JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia is rolling out an ambitious plan to source 41,000 megawatts of solar projects over the next two decades — scaling up a domestic solar industry to support one third of electricity production by 2032. Officials estimate that the solar plan will reduce domestic consumption of oil by 520,000 barrels per day.


The Kingdom has begun a $109-billion plan to finance its solar endeavors, and is seeking outside investors. First Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. are two of the larger companies mentioned so far as potential investors.


Solar electricity will be directly replacing the oil that Saudi Arabia uses for desalination plants. Officials are currently rolling out a competitive bidding process for 1,100 megawatts of solar photovoltaics and 900 megawatts of concentrating solar power in the first quarter of 2013.


The majority of the 41,000 megawatts will likely be concentrated solar thermal power plants, which focus sunlight to very high temperatures in order to heat a fluid and then power a turbine. About 25,000 megawatts might be provided by this type of technology, with the remaining 16,000 coming from photovoltaic panels.


Saudi Arabia is motivated to engage more with renewable energy due to a rising population and because the current practice of generating electricity using crude oil is reducing the income the country could make by exporting it. Currently, it only has about 50 megawatts of solar power, so increasing to 41,000 in the next twenty years is a massive shift.


The plan is part of a larger strategy to scale up various sources of renewable energy, build a new domestic industry, and reduce oil consumption.
In addition to more solar power, the Kingdom intends to add wind, geothermal, waste-to-energy and nuclear plants to its energy mix in the future. The program aims to “catapult Saudi Arabia into the group of global leaders in renewable-energy development.”


Of the 41 GW of solar, photovoltaics is expected to comprise 16 GW, while concentrated solar power (CSP) will encompass 25 GW. “The CSP plants, with their higher capacity factor than PV, are foreseen as a bridge between base-load technologies (including geothermal, waste-to-energy and nuclear) and PV, which will provide coverage for daytime demand,” said Apricum, a strategy consulting and transaction advisory firm specialized in renewable energy. — SG/Agencies