Arab News, Saturday, Jan 01, 2022 | Jumada Al-Uola 26, 1443
Saudi Arabia plans to generate over 15,000GW/h from renewables by 2024
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia plans to generate 15109 gigawatt hours of electricity from
renewable sources by 2024, supplying 692,557 houses with energy, the Kingdom's
Gastat said on its website.
The projects, to be implemented under the National
Renewable Energy Program, aim to provide 7,870 job opportunities by the end of
2024, it said.
As the amount of fossil fuel consumed shall be
reduced, these projects would contribute to decreasing carbon dioxide emissions
by 9,828,156 ton per year by 2024.
The number of projects to be implemented under the
Program has reached 13 with a total capacity of 4,870 megawatts.
Solar energy projects will account for the
majority of energy produced, making up 91.8 percent.
In particular, the Sedar Solar PV Plant Project
will have a capacity of 1,500 MW which corresponds to a share of 30.8 percent of
the 13 projects’ total capacity.
This project will also be solely responsible for
the energy supply of 185,000 houses, as well as provide 970 jobs.
Rass Solar is another project with a large
capacity, estimated at 700 MW, and is set to furnish over 103,000 houses with
energy and deliver 980 jobs.
The sole wind energy project, the Dumat Al-Jandal
Wind Power Project, will only account for 8.2 percent of the capacity.
In 2020, the total global horizontal irradiance,
also known as GHI, in Saudi Arabia was valued at 27,615 watts an hour per meter
square per day, or Wh/m2/day.
This indicator is a measure of the total amount of
short solar irradiance falling on horizontal solar panels, which is used to
produce electrical energy in solar panel cells.
The Southern Region accounted for 21.6 percent of
the Kingdom’s total GHI.