A specialized economic report mentions that the Gulf Arab countries subsidized energy and electricity prices with more than $100 billion dollars in 2011. According to the report carried out by the Diplomatic Center for Strategic Studies, Saudi Arabia subsidized energy prices in 2011 with $61 billion, the UAE with $22 billion, Kuwait with nearly $13…
Saudi Arabia may be at the early stages of developing a solar power market, yet all the signs are pointing to a remarkable determination by the government to diversify the country’s energy mix. A strong political will has been long cited as the main driver of any structural change in the economy, and even more…
New solar plants The Saudi Electricity Company has opened the period for submission of tenders for the construction, acquisition and operation of the first power plant to run on fossil fuels (natural gas) and solar energy. The plant, to be built near Tabuk, will have a capacity of 550MW. Meanwhile, KA Care has signed new…
King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) presents this Renewable Resource Atlas of Saudi Arabia in support of achievement of a sustainable energy mix. The Atlas provides newly collected and historical solar and wind resource monitoring data, plus satellite-based modeled data, for use by developers, researchers, government institutions, and policy-makers. The Atlas is…
The public Saline Water Conversion Corporation of Saudi Arabia ( SWCC ) has announced that it will create the largest solar desalination plant in the world in the Khafji province (in the east of the country) in cooperation with the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology ( KACST ), and 30,000 m³ of water…
The case of renewable energy in the Saudi kingdom enters a new practical phase thanks to the atlas of renewable energy developed by KA Care in which local and international experts participated. The atlas will be a roadmap for renewable energy sources which will provide data terms to investors in these types of projects. Source:…
According to the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi , the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have begun building solar plants with investments amounting to US$155 billion. These plants will have a generation capacity of 84GW and will be completed in 2017. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the countries with…
The Jeddah municipality has launched a pilot project to light the streets of the Saudi town with solar energy. The municipality has not given details of the cost of the project which will be implemented by foreign companies. Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat , 21/11/2013
The results of a survey by Ernst & Young on clean technologies in the Middle East and North Africa, in collaboration with the Council of Clean Energy Industries ( CEBC ) and the Middle East Solar Industry Association ( MESIA ), show that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the most attractive markets…
A report on Sustainable Energy in Arab countries was published at the opening of the annual congress of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) , held on 28 -29 October at the American University of de Sharjah . The report warns that about 60 million Arabs lack access to modern energy, especially electricity,…
According to the Saudi Ministry of Oil, the country's average energy consumption is twice the world average with the same economic output figures. Local consumption has multiplied in less than two decades. The domestic sector is the largest consumer of electricity, with 80% of the electricity production and air conditioning representing 70% of the electricity…
On Friday 10 May, King Mohammed VI presided over the launch of the construction works of the first floor of the integrated solar power energy complex of Ouarzazate in the rural village of Ghessate (Ouarzazate province), calling it "Noor". The ceremony took place with the presence of the head of the government, Abdelila Benkirane, and…
Saudi and Qatari companies participated in the forum to find out about the investment opportunities already available in the areas of renewable energy, agriculture, tourism and the food industry. During the meeting, several workshops were held on various areas, such as energy. The Energy Development Investment Fund has contributions from Saudi Arabia ($500 million), the…
Arab Electricity Ministers have agreed to establish a global electrical connection between Arab countries in 2020 and complete the procedures so that the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the World Bank can contribute to the financing of the project study. The electrical connection will join Egypt, Libya, Jordan and Iraq. Work is…
Masdar in UK Green Investment Bank announced its intention to invest over the next seven years in clean energy projects in Great Britain with the company Masdar. This bank, created with funding from the British government (4,650 million dollars), aims to encourage the private sector to invest in renewable energy projects in Great Britain. The…
The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) plans to reduce its current fuel consumption (300,000 BEP daily) through the use of solar, wind and geothermal energy (The latter is currently under consideration). The growth in the demand for drinkable water is more than the annual 8%. The solar desalination unit created by the Institute for the…
In the latest edition of Ernst & Young’s quarterly Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco are in prominent positions in terms of solar, wind and other renewable energy indexes, becoming a role model for other countries in the MENA region. The report focuses on 40 states and takes into account the…
The consortium, led by the Saudi ACWA, together with the Spanish companies Aries Engineers and Systems and TSK Electronics and Electricity, have won a contract of 1,000 million dollars to build a concentrated solar power plant (CSP) of 160MW in southeastern Morocco (Ouarzazate). The consortium is responsible for designing, financing, constructing, operating and maintaining the…
La energía solar representará el 41% del total de las energías renovables que necesita el país. Se espera que esa cifra alcance el 27% en 2020 y el 80% en 2050. Arabia Saudí va a necesitar 121 GW de electricidad en el año 2030 y habrá una brecha energética de 60 gigavatios que pueden proporcionar…
In this way, the kingdom will become the largest solar exporter in the world. The initiative is part of the aim to generate 5GW of solar by 2020. There are other national initiatives, such as the proposed seawater desalination with solar energy which will be implemented in three phases. The first phase will produce 30,000…
Saudi Aramco is considering offers by Asian and European companies to build a factory for the production of new types of clean fuel in its Ras Tanura refinery and a power plant for its new oil refinery in Yazan. The first project will be ready in 2016. The second project will have a capacity of…
The Arab Women Investors Union, chaired by Huda Yassa, received a delegation of Saudi and Emirati investors in Cairo to study the possibility of several projects in the areas of agricultural waste recycling, mining and energy. The agricultural waste recycling project will cost $600 million in its first phase. Source: Zawya , 11/01/13