Saudi Arabia launches five renewable energy projects

The new wind and solar farms will have a total capacity of 3,300 megawatts

A field of solar panels at Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz City of Sciences and Technology. Reuters

Saudi Arabia launched five new renewable energy projects to produce electricity sustainably, as the world's largest exporter of oil pursues a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The wind and solar projects, which have a total capacity of 3,300 megawatts, were launched by the Saudi Power Procurement Company as a principal buyer, state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

Of the five projects, three will harness wind energy and two will use solar energy, Spa reported.

The total production of the wind energy projects stands at 1,800 megawatts, from a project in Yanbu with a capacity of 700 megawatts, another in Al Ghat with 600 megawatts and a third in Waad Al Shamal with 500 megawatts.

The total capacity of the new solar projects is 1,500mw, from a project in Al Henakiyah with 1,100 megawatts and another in Tubarjal with 400 megawatts, the news agency said.

Saudi Arabia is focusing heavily on renewable energy under its Vision 2030 economic plan.

In December, the kingdom announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in renewable energy projects.

It aims to grow the share of gas and renewable energy in its power mix to 50 per cent by 2030.

The projects are part of the fourth phase of Saudi Arabia's National Renewable Energy Programme that is supervised by the Ministry of Energy.

Power demand in Saudi Arabia, the biggest regional consumer of electricity, is growing rapidly.

Total electricity demand in the kingdom is expected to reach 365.4 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2030, from 299.2 TWh in 2018, according to a report by Riyadh-based King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre.