World's largest solar hot water project in Saudi

A rendering of Princess Noura in Riyadh.

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Millennium Energy Industries (MEI) has been awarded a design-and-build contract for a solar district hot water project at the US$11 billion Princess Noura Bint Abdurrahman University for Women (PNUW) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This is believed to be the largest solar district hot water project in the world. The system is scheduled to be commissioned before the official launch of the university in 2011, according to MEI.

The system comprises 35,000 square metres of roof-mounted large-scale collectors, with a total capacity of about 17 MW of hot water for the purpose of district heating at the eight square kilometre campus for 40,000 students, faculty and staff.

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MEI is sub-contractor to a JV between El-Seif Contracting and Consolidated Contracting Company (CCC), which are responsible for implementing the infrastructure works (Package 3) of the PNUW project, with Dar Al Handaseh as the supervising design and MEP consultant.

“We are proud to have been selected to design and build this flagship project after significant international competition,” said MEI chairman Ennis Rimawi.

Focused on the MENA region, MEI has 200 reference solar projects in more than ten countries, including clients such as Marriott, Mövenpick, Safeway and Schlumberger. MEI is majority-owned by Catalyst Private Equity, an Arab cleantech and energy-efficiency fund.

Its core products and services include solar heating/cooling applications for residential, commercial and industrial clients. It has offices in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Amman, Ramallah and Riyadh.