Saudi Arabia and Türkiye have signed a deal to build 3,000 megawatts of wind power in Türkiye, the second phase of a 5,000-megawatt renewable energy programme led by the Saudi developer ACWA Power. The memorandum of understanding was signed in Antalya on 10 November, on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit, in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The agreement was signed by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar. It covers cooperation on electricity projects and advances the second phase of a bilateral renewable energy framework that the two governments agreed in Riyadh on 3 February and that entered into force on 21 October.

What the deal covers

The second phase envisages 3,000 megawatts of wind power plants, backed by high-voltage direct-current transmission lines and battery energy storage systems. ACWA Power, the Riyadh-based developer part-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will implement the projects, as it is doing for the first phase.

The first phase covers 2,000 megawatts of solar capacity in the provinces of Sivas and Karaman, where two plants of 1,000 megawatts each are planned. Work on the solar projects is already under way, and the plants are expected to begin operating in 2029.

Neither government has announced the locations of the wind farms, their cost, or a construction timetable for the second phase. The memorandum itself sets the terms for cooperation rather than fixing a final investment decision.

The money behind the programme

ACWA Power chairman Mohammad Abunayyan valued the full 5,000-megawatt programme at $4–5 billion when the first phase was signed in February. The two solar plants in the first phase represent about €1.6 billion of estimated investment, and ACWA expects them to supply electricity equivalent to the needs of more than 1.3 million households and to avoid about 1.65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year once operating.

On 11 November, eight international financial institutions signed a letter supporting financing for the initial solar projects. The signatories were the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Islamic Development Bank, Germany’s DEG, Société Générale and Standard Chartered. The letter signals lender support but does not amount to financial close, and individual lending commitments have not been disclosed.

Why it matters at COP31

The signing came during the COP31 climate conference, which runs from 9 to 20 November in Antalya under the presidency of Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum. The summit has produced a string of investment announcements even as negotiators argue over climate finance, including a $6 billion plan announced by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on 11 November to back renewable energy in Türkiye over five years.

For Saudi Arabia, the deal extends a strategy of exporting capital and clean-energy expertise, building on a defence and economic relationship with Türkiye that has deepened markedly this year. For Türkiye, it brings foreign investment, new generating capacity and grid infrastructure at a time when electricity demand is growing.

Agreements signed by individual governments, companies and development banks at COP31 are not decisions adopted collectively under the UN climate convention, and the formal negotiations continue. But the Saudi–Turkish deal is one of the largest concrete outcomes of the summit so far, and the wind farms it promises would add substantially to Türkiye’s renewable fleet if they are built as planned.

Sources: Qatar News Agency; Anadolu Agency.