Saudi to launch $30-50 billion renewable energy programme soon

ABU DHABI: Saudi Arabia will launch a renewable energy programme in coming weeks that is expected to involve investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday.

Falih, speaking at an energy industry event in Abu Dhabi, said Riyadh would start the first round of bidding within weeks for projects under the programme, which would produce 10 gigawatts of power.

Saudi Arabia has been for years trying to diversify its energy mix so that it can export more of its oil, rather than burning it at power and water desalination plants, but progress has been slow.

Power demand in the desert kingdom is growing eight percent annually, forcing state-run Saudi Electricity Co, the Gulf's largest utility company, to spend billions of dollars on projects to add capacity.

The kingdom produces very little renewable energy, representing less than one percent of the total produced, but under an economic reform programme approved by King Salman last year, it targets renewable energy contributing 3,450 megawatts to the national energy mix by 2020, equating to 4 percent of energy use in the kingdom.

Falih told the conference Saudi Arabia was working on ways to connect its renewable energy projects with Yemen, Jordan and Egypt. "We will connect to Africa to exchange non-fossil sources of energy," he said, without elaborating.