By: Reuters

French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA), opens new tab and Saudi developer Aljomai Energy and Water have been awarded a licence to build and operate a 400 megawatt solar power plant in Saudi Arabia, Total said in a statement on Tuesday.

The plant is expected to come online in 2027 and power more than 68,400 homes, with the electricity being sold to the Saudi Power Procurement Company via a 25-year power purchase agreement.

Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil announced on Monday it will sell its international assets.

TotalEnergies last month told investors it would sell off existing renewables stakes that were not in its priority markets of the U.S., Britain, Europe and Brazil.

However, the company has also adopted a strategy of proposing renewable projects to countries where it has large oil and gas investments, notably its $27 billion Iraq energy project.

The French major is building an $11 billion petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia as an expansion of the refinery it co-owns there with Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab, though Total does not extract oil and gas in the kingdom.

"TotalEnergies is a close partner of Saudi Arabia, where we are deploying our multi-energy strategy," Olivier Jouny, Total's senior vice president of renewables, said in the statement.
"We are thrilled to contribute to Saudi Arabia's target of increasing the share of renewables in its energy mix."