Saudi Arabia must invest SR500bn ($133.3bn) in electricity projects over the next 10 years to meet rising power demand, according to Minister of Electricity ‘Abd Allah al-Husain. He warns that the kingdom’s peak electricity demand will reach 90GW in 2022, up 45% from last year’s record level.
Mr Husain told a conference in Riyadh this week that Saudi electricity demand reached a new high of 62.26GW in summer 2015, which was 10% up on 56.55GW recorded in 2014. While a 45% demand hike over eight years is high in global terms, it is still modest compared with a 64% increase over 2008-15 (see graph). (CONTINUED - 825 WORDS)
