Saudi Renewable Surge Generates Record Power

10 May 2024 Issue: 67 / 19 By: Jamie Ingram

A series of solar start-ups over the course of 2023 have propelled renewables’ share of Saudi Arabia’s installed capacity to 3%. Another 1GW is due online by the end of this year, before the renewables rollout accelerates, with capacity set to more than quadruple by end-2026.

Renewable power plants now account for a record 3.06% of installed power capacity in Saudi Arabia, according to the latest figures from Saudi Arabia’s state offtaker, SPPC. This was up from an end-2022 figure of just 0.9%, as installed renewable capacity jumped from 700MW to 2.8GW last year (MEES, 10 November 2023). These figures align with MEES calculations that the kingdom’s total capacity currently stands at around 90GW.

The existing renewables plants are slated to be able to deliver around 8.8TWh of electricity over the course of a full year, which would equate to around 2% of total power generation. That this is markedly less than their share of capacity is due to the inherent intermittency of renewables. Actual generation will have been considerably lower than this year for 2023, as the bulk of the 2.1GW capacity gains came in the second half of the year. (CONTINUED - 959 WORDS)