Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Red Sea Global (RSG), the developer of AMAALA and The Red Sea destinations, reached the financial close for a multi-utilities infrastructure facility at AMAALA, the wellness destination nestled along the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

In a statement, RSG revealed that the financial close was reached by a consortium led by EDF Group and Masdar, alongside their partners Korea East-West Power Company (EWP) and SUEZ.

Several local and global financial institutions supported the financial close, including First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), Emirates NBD, Riyad Bank, Saudi National Bank (SNB), and Alinma Bank.

The project will include a fully optimized and decarbonized off-grid renewable energy system, which will generate electricity from a 250 MW solar photovoltaic park, 700MWh battery energy storage, transmission and distribution lines, and a desalination plant with a capacity of 37 million liters of drinking water per day, and wastewater treatment plants.

This leading-edge infrastructure project, which will cost $1.5 billion, is expected to avoid the equivalent of nearly 350,000 tons of CO2e emissions every year compared to average infrastructures of this kind

John Pagano, Group CEO of Red Sea Global, said: “We have demonstrated that large-scale tourism destinations can be powered using 100% renewable energy while providing luxury experiences for guests and strong financial returns for partners. This agreement with EDF, Masdar, EWP, and SUEZ means we are on track to making AMAALA our second destination powered by sunlight, day and night.”

AMAALA plans to achieve a 30% net conservation benefit for local ecosystems by 2040. The first phase of AMAALA is set to welcome its first guests in 2025.

Upon completion, the destination will feature over 4,000 hotel rooms across 30 hotels, and 1,200 high-end residential villas, apartments, and estate homes.