Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in gas and solar to displace around 1mn b/d of liquids from its power generation and water desalination sector, at the same time as advancing its ambitious Vision 2030 economic reform agenda which is driving strong electricity consumption gains. As the sector’s feedstock requirements grow accordingly, more gas availability and solar capacity is required just to prevent oil burn from ballooning further, let alone bring it down.
Electricity consumption in Saudi Arabia jumped by 5% last year to a new all-time high of 325TWh, driven by strong non-oil sector economic activity. Non-oil sector GDP grew by 4.4% last year according to government statistics, including strong gains of 7.3% growth in transportation and 7% in hospitality. (CONTINUED - 1179 WORDS)
