Saudi Arabia has launched a project to survey locations suitable for renewable energy, with contracts awarded to Saudi firms to install 1,200 stations measuring solar and wind energy across all regions of the Kingdom, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Monday.
Prince AbdulAziz bin Salman bin AbdulAziz Al Saud, the Minister of Energy, described the project as part of the National Renewable Energy Programme and noted its unprecedented global scope in geographical coverage.
He highlighted that the survey will encompass all regions of Saudi Arabia, covering over 850,000 square kilometres, excluding populated areas, sand dunes, and airspace restrictions.
This area is equivalent to the combined land area of countries like the UK and France or Germany and Spain. He emphasized that no other country has previously conducted such a comprehensive geographical survey on such a large scale.
The minister detailed that solar energy measurement stations, equipped with advanced devices at ground level, will measure Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI), Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI), dust and pollutant deposition rates, ground-reflected radiation (albedo), ambient temperature, rainfall levels, relative humidity, and atmospheric pressure.
Additionally, wind energy measurement stations will be installed at heights up to 120 meters to record wind speed, direction, ambient temperature, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity.
The project aims to significantly contribute towards achieving the country’s energy goals, including reaching a renewable energy mix of around 50% by 2030 for electricity production and reducing reliance on liquid fuels through the Liquid Fuel Displacement Programme.
Starting in 2024, Saudi Arabia plans to tender new renewable energy projects annually with a capacity of 20 gigawatts, aiming to achieve between 100 and 130 gigawatts by 2030, depending on electricity demand growth.
