Saudi Arabia has announced an investment of about $50bn in renewable energy projects over the next 10 years, as part of its efforts to increase power generation.
Saudi Arabia Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih said that the largest oil exporter wants to produce as much as 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2023, reported Bloomberg.
The minister also launched the tender for 300MW Sakaka solar project in the country.
The Sakaka solar project will be located in Al-Jouf and is expected to be operational in 2019. It is being claimed that more than 50 companies are willing to participate in the bidding.
Another 400MW wind project is also in the pipeline process. This wind project could be located in Domat Al-Jandar, Arab News reported.
By increasing the number of renewable projects over the years, Saudi plans to decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to global climate efforts, as per the country’s commitment in the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Saudi Aramco Downstream acting senior vice president Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi said: “Saudi Aramco’s participation in the forum stems from its crucial role in diversifying the Kingdom’s energy mix through various projects and initiatives that aim at promoting the use and adoption of renewable energy to reduce emissions and to achieve a better environmental performance, while meeting the Kingdom’s future energy demand.”
The country's renewable energy projects are expected to help in achieving its the Transformation Plan (NTP), under which the long term goal is to produce 3.45GW of renewable energy by 2020 and 9.5GW by 2023.
Image: Saudi to invest $50bn by 2030 to bring wind and solar projects online. Photo: Courtesy of worradmu/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.