First Solar, Inc. and the Al-Watania Agriculture Company, one of the largest agricultural enterprises in the Middle East, has announced the completion of a pilot project to evaluate the use of solar electricity sustainably to power irrigation at a large farm in Saudi Arabia.

The 684 kilowatt (kW) AC photovoltaic (PV) plant powers groundwater extraction and distribution operations at a 25,688-sqm site on the not-for-profit Al-Watania Organic farm, which is located in the Al-Jouf Region.

The farm, which covers a total of 319.21 sqm, is claimed to be the Kingdom’s largest producer of organic products and currently uses conventional fuel to pump water from 150 bore wells.

The pilot project — jointly funded by First Solar Saudi Arabia and the Al Watania Agriculture Company — is powered by First Solar’s advanced thin film PV modules.

The facility produces 1,476 MWh of electricity per year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1,100 tons per year based on national averages, which is equivalent to planting 28,000 trees per year.

The solar power plant replaces a diesel generator, which would ordinarily consume 628,000 liters of diesel per year, if run continuously.

“We are proud to partner with First Solar on this exciting new project, which will not only help reduce our carbon footprint, but will also allow us to explore the potential for solar to reliably support our energy needs,” said Ibrahim Aboabat, Al-Watania Agriculture CEO.

“Al-Watania Organic was born from, our founder, Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi’s vision of agricultural products being sustainably farmed right here in Saudi Arabia,” he added.

“This project is an excellent example of the scalability and flexibility that solar PV offers,” said Raed Bkayrat, VP business for First Solar in the Middle East.