Kingdom Renewable Energy Summit 2017

Renewable energy is increasingly becoming a new sector in the Kingdom and is expected to expand until the new renewable energy program can reach its target by 2023. Saudi Arabia’s renewable program involves investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023. It has invited investors to submit requests to qualify for the first round.

Saudi Arabia is targeting 9.5 GW of renewable energy by 2023 in line with Vision 2030, an economic reform plan launched last year to diversify the economy beyond oil, by using renewable energy to balance economic needs towards environmental goals, as it has considerable solar power potential and is eager to reduce its use of fossil fuels. With its vast landscape, featuring empty stretches of desert that can host solar arrays and vast deposits of clear sand that can be used in the manufacture of silicon photovoltaic cells and benefiting from approximately 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, Saudi Arabia is highly suited to the development of solar energy. Major Saudi Arabian organizations forecasts that the cost of solar production will drop to $0.10 per kWh in the period 2010-20 in the GCC, making it cheaper than diesel-fired generation and placing it on par with gas.