Saudi Arabia stresses building sustainable renewable energy sector

The Kingdom reiterated that it is working, in the framework of Vision 2030 and the National Transition Program 2020, to build a sustainable renewable energy sector, which includes industries, services, technologies localization and human resources training, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

This was highlighted by Kingdom’s Dr. Khaled Bin Saleh Al-Sultan, president of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) and the head of the KSA delegation, at the Ninth Session of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) General Assembly taking place in Abu Dhabi these days.

This endeavor comes within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program 2020 (NTP 2020) receiving limitless support from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense.

He said this would be achieved by specifying the main outlines for building this sector along with the necessity for creating a balanced mix of fossil energy and alternative energy in the Kingdom. This will entail introduction of alternative energy sources within the national energy mix.

Meanwhile, the target for renewable energy has been set at 9.5 Giga Watts (GW) as the first stage, by the advent of 2023. It will include solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy and conversion of waste to energy.

Al-Sultan expressed the appreciation of the Saudi government for the efforts being exerted by the Director General and staff of IRENA to achieve the aspired goals towards enhancing the utilization of renewable energy at the global level. He congratulated China on chairing this session and welcomed the countries that have joined IRENA recently.

The Kingdom has presented a number of initiatives within the NTP 2020, which aim to activate and enhance the role of alternative energy in the energy and economic systems alike by increasing the local content in the industrial and services value chains, technical knowhow localization in them, investing these commercially and training of human capital, Al-Sultan said.

In this context, the National Renewable Energy Program has been launched. It will contribute to achieving economic development for the Kingdom, aside from encouraging the participation of the private sector and attracting foreign investment, in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, he said.

Among the goals of this Vision is the development of the renewable energy sector through phases with clear-cut features to enable the Kingdom to achieve competiveness resulting from investment in the renewable energy sector and increasing the contribution of this sector to diversification of sources of energy, he added.

Al-Sultan stressed that the Kingdom has already started encouraging the private sector and investors, interested in this field, to invest in the Kingdom’s renewable energy sector to achieve its ambitious Vision 2030.

In this regard, the Kingdom has also been committed to a competitive local market for renewable energy. It has laid down a clear system that ensures competitiveness of renewable energy, providing the necessary financing via partnerships between the public and private sectors and localization of a large percentage of the renewable energy value chain.

Al Falih to head Saudi delegation in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week

Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al Falih will head the Kingdom's delegation participating in the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2019 which will start on Sunday and last for four days.

The Kingdom's delegation includes a number of competent authorities in the fields of energy, industry, and electricity to review future initiatives and projects to raise energy efficiency and develop new technologies to enhance sustainability in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom is participating with an interactive pavilion at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which includes 21 sectors, offering lectures and panel discussions on energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, Saudi Arabia's initiatives to localize electricity and related services, investment in the Kingdom, as well as the role of research and development for sustainability.

The participation aims to shed light on the role of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to achieve the goals of sustainable development and the measures taken to achieve them.