Saudi Arabia is seeking to revive its stalled solar-power program, scaling back more ambitious targets it set four years ago after making little headway in transforming the energy supply of the world’s biggest oil exporting nation.
The kingdom plans to install 9.5 GW of renewable energy under its Vision 2030 program announced last month, about a quarter of the previous goal. The new target is about 14 percent of the country’s current generating capacity and is achievable because of a plunge in the cost of solar PV, government officials said.
“Solar should be the fundamental solution for Saudi Arabia,” Ibrahim Babelli, the country’s deputy minister for economy and planning, told reporters at a conference in Dubai.
The goals reflect work by Prince Mohammed bin Salman to overhaul the economy of Saudi Arabia, selling off a stake in the state owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. to diversify away from fossil fuels as a primary revenue source. The desert kingdom relies on oil and natural gas for almost all of its power generation, sapping what it earns from crude it could export.
The energy ministry is working to establish the framework for the new renewable energy plan and needs more time to complete its planning, said Babelli, who directed strategy at the body previously responsible for renewable energy policy. Currently, the nation has almost no solar power.
source: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com
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