Noting the great challenges faced by the sector in the Kingdom, with a production capacity reaching about only 54 MW last year, he said the Kingdom needs to add about 5,000 megawatts annually, and that thousand megawatts need around SR15 billion investments.
He stressed that electric diesel generators play a significant role in promoting economic development, and advancing the overall sustainable development taking place in the Kingdom over the past decades.
A progressive urban development and mega projects implemented by the government is aimed to bridge the gap between the current needs of the energy and capacity electric available to cover the growing needs the demand for electric power as a result of a progressive urban development, and megaprojects implemented by the government.
He valued the direction of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to support the increased electrical generation capacities to meet the increasing demand.
Sawary Energy is one of the largest companies in the power industry operating in Saudi Arabia for the past 40 years through its network of branches all over the Kingdom and is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Meanwhile, Booz& Company estimates that the MENA region holds 45 percent of the world’s total energy potential from all renewable sources. Algeria, reckons the consulting firm, has the greatest potential for solar power, followed by Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Already, some countries in the MENA region have announced ambitious renewable energy generation targets.
Algeria has announced plans for 22,000 mw of renewable energy capacity by 2030, for example, and Morocco is targeting 2,000 mw of new solar generation capacity by 2020, as well as hosting the first reference project of the Desertec concept.
Moreover, Egypt has ambitions to generate 20 percent of its total energy from renewable sources
by 2020, and Abu Dhabi is targeting a 7 percent renewable energy share in electricity generation capacity in the same timeframe.
In all, the IEA expects the Middle East region to generate 7 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2030, up from around 3 percent today.

The forecast expansion, which includes Jordan, will require loans and export credits, said Vahid Fotuhi, president of the Dubai-based Emirates Solar Industry Association.
Governments across the Middle East and North Africa consider sun and wind energy as crucial for meeting the needs of growing populations and economies, with Saudi Arabia leading the way.
Saudi Arabia plans to invest more than $100 billion to generate about 41,000 megawatts from solar energy, or a third of its total power output, by 2032. That compares with about 16 megawatts of solar capacity today, a level that places the kingdom behind Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and the UAE, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Abu Dhabi National Energy, a conventional energy-producer known as Taqa, raised about $4 billion in loans this year and in 2012. The $2.5 billion in revolving credits it arranged in December include a three-year credit priced at 75 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate, and a five-year component priced at 100 basis points more than the Libor benchmark, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Abengoa Solar, a partner in an Abu Dhabi sun-power plant, borrowed $142 million at 175 basis points more than Libor, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Costs are even higher for First Solar Inc. (FSLR), the largest US solar manufacturer and builder of Dubai’s first solar electricity plant, which arranged a $431 million secured letter of credit at 225 basis points more than Libor, data gathered by Bloomberg show.
Oil producers want to develop renewables to conserve more crude for export, while countries relying on imported fuel see local green power as a cheaper alternative. State support for utilities and a growth in regional power demand of about 5 percent a year mean companies such as Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) can borrow at rates that are 100 basis points, or 1 percentage point, lower than Spain’s Abengoa Solar SA.
Lenders may hesitate to continue funding the massive expansion as commercial banks seek to limit exposure to renewables projects, said Steve Mercieca, the Dubai-based chief executive officer of the Clean Energy Business Council. Governments should encourage the availability of Islamic bonds (sukuk) to help finance solar facilities under construction, he said.

“The Saudi market already has an attractive framework for building and funding traditional power plants, and liquidity is ample in local banks,” Mercieca said. “Appetite is going to be substantial” for the funding of such projects, he said.
“If you see a rising population and rising energy demand, that really helps the risk profile,” Amol Shitole, a credit analyst with SJS Markets Ltd. in Bangalore, India, said. Projects that can pair local companies with international power-plant developers already known to lenders will have “strong support from banks,” he added.
Renewables investment in the Middle East and North Africa rose 40 percent last year to $2.9 billion, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Being the third largest water consuming country in the world with an average consumption reaching 280 liters per day per capita, Saudi Arabia has earmarked up to $53 billion (SR202.5 billion) in various water projects to be completed by 2022.

On the other hand, energy projects are expected to cost $79.9 billion (SR300 billion), including in lighting projects recently awarded by the Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity.

Saudi Energy 2013 — the 16th International Trade Exhibition for Electricity Power Generation, Alternative Energy, Water Technology, Lighting & HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) — will be showcasing technology covering all energy sectors.

This will range from electricity generation and distribution to alternative and renewable energy technologies; modern lighting products and technologies; water and water resources management technologies; and HVAC.

The event will be held in Riyadh from May 26-29. “The sharp increase in energy consumption in Saudi Arabia has been driven mainly by rapid social and economic development,” Khaled Daou, Project Manager of Saudi Energy at Riyadh Exhibition Company, said.

“As energy requirements hit new record highs each year, we are also seeing an increasing number of local and international suppliers, manufacturers and contractors offering a wide array of innovative products, services and technologies. “These complement the government’s efforts to address the Kingdom’s spiraling energy generation needs,” he said.

The event will be attended by exhibitors from China, Germany, India, Canada, France, Italy, Korea, Romania and Turkey, among others.

“Electricity connections will not be given to new buildings licensed after this date except after making sure they applied thermal insulation,” the ministry said yesterday.

Saudi Electricity Company’s technicians will inspect new buildings under construction to make sure they follow the regulation. The ministry will organize a meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday to enlighten the public on the need to apply thermal insulation in buildings. A source said power would be cut as a penalty at noncompliant construction sites. He said the task (of inspecting the implementation of the royal order) required the SEC to hire more manpower and allocate more funds. SEC will establish an independent administration for thermal insulation inspections and recruit 32 inspectors in Riyadh and 37 in Eastern Province as well as five supervisors. The company is coordinating with municipalities.

More than 65 green-building projects have been launched in Saudi Arabia during the last two years and that 20 percent of Middle East’s green buildings are in the Kingdom.

However, Al-Otaibi stressed that these steps were still not enough to meet the growing demand of electricity unless the North Zoor power plant was built. In related news, Al-Qabas newspaper quoted official statistics yesterday which suggested that thanks to extremely low tariffs, power generation losses have reached 95 percent. Power tariff in Kuwait is considered the lowest in the world.

The percentage is based on the difference between the annual cost of electricity generation which is pegged at KD3.2 billion, and the average amount of fees collected every year which is estimated at KD160 million, charged at the rate of 2 fils per kilowatt. Meanwhile, statistics showed that the government was spending 38 fils for every kilowatt produced and then sold it for 2 fils, the lowest rate in the region. The rates were as much as 20, 22 and 30 fils per kilowatts in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Dubai, respectively. Experts predict that the production cost would increase to 50 fils per kilowatt in the next few years, putting Kuwait at risk of further financial loss. According to international reports, Kuwait uses 10 percent of its daily oil production to produce electricity and water.

The rate is estimated to increase to 20 percent by 2017, at which point nearly 600 thousand barrels will be pumped every day into power plants to meet the demand that continues to increase as a result of population growth and residential expansion projects. In another development, sources revealed that nine ministries have been found to have spent KD 901.6 million without any authorization on their employees and companies contracted by those ministries. Expenses also included those borne on account of unnecessary medical treatment abroad, in addition to uncollected dues. Out of this figure, KD 280.2 million were wasted by the MEW, KD 206.5 million by the oil sector, KD 115.50 million by the Ministry of Communication, KD 109 by the Ministry of Finance, KD 13 million by Justice Ministry, KD 10.7 million by the Ministry of Information, KD 7.4 million by the Ministry of Public Works, and KD 6.8 million by the Ministry of Higher Education. Sources said real financial regulation was almost absent in these ministries due to corruption indulged in one or the other leader.

Al Barak said the first contract is for setting up of 380 KV transmission lines to link with Al-Salam transformer in Madinah. The project will be implemented within 29 months at a cost of SR194 million.

The second contract, costing SR530 million, is to establish central cables in Makkah with a capacity of 380KV. The period of implementation of the project, which will strengthen the electricity transmission network in the holy city, is 23 months.

A similar project for establishing 380 KV underground central cables in Jeddah was awarded at a cost of SR262.7 million and the period of implementation is 29 months.

The world’s top oil exporter aims to install 23.9 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power capacity by 2020 and 54.1 GW by 2032, it said in the roadmap, which would make Saudi Arabia one of the world’s main producers of renewable electricity.

In 2011 global installed capacity for photovoltaic (PV) solar power, the most common solar technology, was 69.4 GW, the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2012 said.

The kingdom says it has crude output capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day, but domestic oil consumption is rising quickly and may start to cut into the amount of energy available for export.

The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), the government department responsible for the programme, last year published its vision for a long-term energy mix that relied on big contributions from solar and nuclear energy.

KACARE said in its roadmap, a white paper published on Wednesday, that it aims to issue a request for prequalification for the first rewewable plants within two months, a final tender within three months and to award contracts within a year.

It said the initial contracts would be part of an “introductory” procurement round of 500-800 megawatts, but that it would launch two more tenders within three years for 7 GW of installed capacity. It said 5.1 GW would be installed in the first five years.

Saudi Arabia wants most of the new renewable energy capacity to come from two solar power technologies, but is also seeking to generate electricity from wind, geothermal and waste-to-energy projects.

KACARE specified that in the first two bidding rounds after the introductory procurement round, it wanted 2.4 GW of PV solar energy capacity and 2.1 GW of solar thermal capacity.

Renewable power developers will have 20-year contracts to sell electricity to a new government body that will in turn sell it on to the national grid.

New projects will have minimum requirements for local content and the employment of Saudi nationals, KACARE said, and developers must contribute to a Saudi research and development programme for renewable energy.

The initial tendering process for the first projects this year aims to determine the cost of installing major renewable plants in Saudi Arabia to set a pricing structure for future bidding rounds, it said.