Saudi Arabia Launches its 54GW Renewable Energy Program

Saudi Arabia has finally launched its massive renewable energy procurement program which will see a planned 54GW of renewable energy capacity installed by 2032, and turn Saudi Arabia into one of the largest green energy producers in the world.

The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA CARE) has recently released details of the process which will reward tenders to successful companies for the development of PV solar farms, concentrated solar plants, wind farms, geothermal plants, and waste-to-energy plants.

Of the proposed 54GW, the majority will be solar power with 16GW of PV cell capacity, and 35GW to be generated by concentrated solar thermal. 9GW of wind power will be installed, 3GW of waste-to-energy, and 1GW of geothermal power.

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CK CARE hope that solar power, along with storage, will cover the energy needs during the day, while geothermal, waste-to-energy, nuclear, and wind can cover the demands at night.

The first three rounds of contracts will be awarded by 2015, worth around $10 billion, and a total estimated capacity of 7GW. The first round will begin in the first half of this year and focus entirely on concentrated solar power. Two larger rounds will then take place in the second half of the year and during 2014.

By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com