Strategic Approach to Sustainable Energy Development and Resource Utilization in Saudi Arabia

Strategic Approach to Sustainable Energy Development and Resource Utilization in Saudi Arabia

• Energy Overview In Saudi Arabia
• Introduction To Renewable Energy Sector
• Renewable Energy Benefit and Advantage
• Renewable Energy Investment and Target
• Major Renewable Energy Project In Saudi Arabia
• Challenge and Opportunity
• Conclusion and Remarks

Energy Overview in Saudi Arabia

• Over the last few years, the electric energy demand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has increased many due to several factors:

              1- Population,

              2- Industries,

              3- Economic activities,

              4- Urbanization.

• The main source of electric power generation in KSA is: Oil and Gas.
• Electricity increasing  8 percent annually.

Due to huge consumption, it is necessary to consider alternate electricity.

Introduction To Renewable Energy Sector

• Saudi Arabia was consuming for domestic energy usage more than three million barrels of oil every day,  1 million barrels were solely for Sea water desalination Plant .
• The demand for water and energy is expected to increase significantly in Saudi Arabia due to high population growth (approximately 3.2% annually in recent years.
• The key goals of Vision 2030 is to find alternative energy source which is Renewable Energy.
• Types of Renewable Energy.

• Saudi Arabia's total electricity generation capacity has grown since 2000 owing to an increase in electricity generated from renewable sources.
• The country's renewable sector is growing mostly because of its policies, such as the differentiated feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme, which has had a significant impact on the sector's development.
• Saudi Arabia has increased its usage of renewable energy in recent years, with a focus on wind and solar power.
• Saudi Arabia the largest renewable energy production capacities in the GCC.
• Saudi Arabia is having a control over the growth of demand for domestic energy. Renewable energy can be used for recent purposes as additional sources of energy for Saudi Arabia that would reduce the pressure of demand on fossil fuel.

Recently, the renewable energy industry in Saudi Arabia has been witness to some major trends including large amounts of investment in projects, increased participation of private sector players, and a growing recognition of the importance of green energy.

Renewable Energy Benefit and Advantage

• Renewable Energy Generates No Emissions : With renewables, the  environmental benefits are clear: Electricity generated from renewable resources like solar panels and wind turbines generate no emissions and no air pollution. 
• Renewable Energy Lowers Your Carbon Footprint: carbon footprint, a metric used to calculate your environmental impact.
• Renewable Energy Reduces Harmful Air Pollutants: Renewable energy sources do not release nitrous oxides when generating electricity. So, not only does renewable energy not release greenhouse gases, but it also lowers your carbon footprint and helps offset the need for fossil fuel power that can contribute to excess air pollution in urban areas. 
• Renewable Energy Uses Less Water: Wind and photovoltaic solar innately do not need water to generate electricity. Occasionally, solar panels need cleaning and washing, but that’s only 20 gallons per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated
• Renewable Energy Benefits the Economy: Lower technology costs. As the price for creating clean energy technology drops, so does the price for electricity generated by them. Government has supportive Policies, such as reduce the cost of renewable energy resources even further.
• Renewable energy has lower maintenance requirements: Renewable energy systems usually require less overall maintenance than generators that use traditional fuel sources
• Renewable energy creates new jobs: Today, the renewable energy sector employs three times as many people as fossil fuels in the U.S. That number is expected to rise over the next few years

Renewable Energy Investment and Target

• Saudi government works to set its ambition targets for renewable energy and its aims to generate 50% of the country's electricity from renewables by 2030.
• The goal's achievement needs to launch several initiatives where they develop large-scale solar and wind projects.
• The government introduces policies to encourage private investment in renewable energy, such as feed-in tariffs and net metering.
• The renewable energy of Saudi Arabia is a part of the Vision 2030 plan.
• They possess around 17% of the world's petroleum reserves, and it considers a diversification of the energy mix through investments.
• Saudi Arabia considers its diversification to energy mix through investments and green technology using its natural abundance of wind and sunlight.
• Saudi government needs to generate 750,000 jobs by 2030, and it gives priority to the government plans. They have another plan to localize their sector with a 40-45% workforce goal of Saudi nationals by 2028.

Major Renewable Energy Project In Saudi Arabia (Solar Power)

Future Renewable Energy Project in Saudi Arabia

 Challenge and Opportunity

Investment in Renewable Energy has faced many challenges Worldwide.

• Financial Challenge

1-      Small Market Share compare with Conventional Energy.

2-      High Initial Capital Cost

3-      Shortage of Funding

• Technical Challenge

1-      Reliability

2-      Maintenance, Training and Research

3-      Dust and Temperature like Saudi Arabia

4-      Storage energy

Conclusion Remarks

• Saudi Arabia's strategic investments in power and infrastructure provide a solid foundation for industrial growth and expansion to achieve Vision 2030.
• Increase researchers and research centers in Saudi Arabia Universities.
• Improve and modify existing technology to comply with Saudi Arabia weather and nature.
• Expedite approve and implement the on grid agreement to enable individual/houses to install solar panel and sell /buy electricity.
• By investing in renewable energy will be increase jobs, manufacturers, material supply chains, Localization.
• By Increasing research in power storage, it will help many investors to invest in Renewable energy.

Prepare by

Eng: Hawas Bajawi