Saudi Arabia: Solar energy provides 40% of electricity consumption in the Kingdom

ArabiaWeather.com – Saudi economists said that the diversification of energy sources in the Kingdom, including solar energy, will increase its national income by 30%, in addition to reducing dependence on oil by 50%, noting that the Kingdom will move during the next ten years to establish stations and warehouses To generate and retain solar energy, thus saving 40% of its electrical energy consumption.

As the geographical nature of Saudi Arabia makes it at the forefront of countries that can benefit greatly from energy, in addition to other alternatives such as water and nuclear energy.

The head of the economics department at Taif University, Dr. Salem Bajaja, told Al-Madina newspaper: "There are many alternative energies that the Kingdom can benefit from, such as solar energy, peaceful nuclear energy, and the exchange of wasted energy between the Gulf countries," adding that his country "can benefit from solar energy." Which provides high rates of electrical energy, in addition to being considered one of the renewable and available energies, as the Kingdom is considered one of the hot regions.

He pointed out that "with the decline in oil prices, the Kingdom is heading to find alternative ways to increase its national income, as alternative energy will increase its national income by up to 20%, and solar energy is considered one of the cheapest energies and contributes to reducing environmental pollution."

Professor of Economics at King Abdulaziz University, Dr. Farouk Al-Khatib, stated that "there are several types of alternative energy sources, old such as steam, gas and electricity, and modern such as solar energy, nuclear energy and renewable energy," noting that "this energy brings huge investments in addition to its licenses, as Solar energy is characterized by its cheapness and the ability to benefit from it continuously without cost, so most companies in the industrial sector depend in their future plans on alternative energy, especially solar energy.”

He explained that "during the next 5 years, companies will rely heavily on solar energy to operate their factories, which will contribute to reducing the electric energy bill by up to 40%," stressing that "alternative energy increases the Kingdom's income by a rate ranging from 8-12% of the size of the national product." For it, as the geographical nature of the Kingdom helps to find many generators and solar energy stations.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Maghlouth, a member of the economic association in the Kingdom, stated that since the Kingdom discovered oil, it has been completely dependent on it, and in recent years alternatives have appeared such as water energy, wind energy and solar energy, and it is possible to benefit from the desalination of salt water and the production of electric energy, in addition to benefiting from heat and light. the sun, as the Kingdom is one of the countries that is characterized by its hot weather.

Al-Maghlouth indicated that the Kingdom may take about the next 15 years to provide alternative energies, due to the increase in population, in addition to the increase in factories, which contributes to serving the needs of its population and speeding up the establishment of industrial, commercial and service projects, stressing that the trend to rely on alternative energy contributes to increasing the national income of the Kingdom. At a rate of 30%, especially for projects, in addition to providing it with the volume of the main energy, "petroleum energy", by up to 50%, calling on the official and competent authorities to discuss the owners of factories and companies to benefit from alternative energy in their future projects and reduce dependence on oil.