Isra-Mart srl : Reports: Saudi Arabia targets $100bn spend on solar and nuclear

www.isra-mart.com
Isra-Mart srl news:
World's largest oil producer wants low-carbon sources to meet domestic demand so more crude is available for export
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, is looking to make a $100bn (£62bn) investment in solar and nuclear power to help secure its energy future.

The country holds about a fifth of the world's oil deposits, but Abdullah al-Shehri, governor of the Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority, has said the government is keen to boost low-carbon energy generation by a half over the next decade, according to reports from the Bloomberg news agency.
The government is expected to announce a new renewable energy strategy early next week as it looks for alternative ways to generate power, while maintaining hugely profitable crude exports and tapping natural gas reserves to make petrochemicals.

The nation currently burns 800,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent to meet domestic power needs. It expects national demand to more than double to 8.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2028, severely affecting the level of oil available for export.

Al-Shehri said at a conference that plans to upgrade the grid and expand capacity will require a $100bn investment, of which a third will go towards building new power plants, some of which will be renewables.

Saudi Arabia has a number of solar-powered desalination plant projects underway already, and al-Shehri said he expects the government to issue tenders for additional renewable projects next year.

The government remains tight-lipped about targets for renewables, but Bloomberg quoted analysts who expect the Saudis will aim at generating 20 per cent of their electricity from renewables by 2030. The vast majority of this would come from solar, given the fact that the country's demand profile sees electricity needs for air conditioning units peak at midday when the sun is brightest.