Renewable energy: Is Saudi Arabia the new land of opportunity?

[al-Hasani]

Last updated: Monday, April 15, 2013 10:39 AM

Amjad Parkar

Saudi Gazette

The potential for renewable energy in the Kingdom is vast if you believe various reports and expert opinions. It also appears the government is taking notice of the infinite resources it has at its disposal in this particular area of energy production.

Renewable energy, as a definition, is energy that comes from resources that are continuously replenished, such as sunlight, wind and waves.

Currently the Kingdom fulfills most of its energy needs through the production of its vast resources of oil. However, the “black gold” will not last forever, and experts have continuously urged the importance of looking at alternative ways to meet the world’s energy needs.

Saudi Arabia, in principle at least, is listening to this warning, and this is supported by its inclusion for the first time on Ernst & Young’s All Renewables Index (ARI) for 2012, at rank No. 37. The UAE is ranked two places higher at 35.

For example, Saudi Arabia’s government has reportedly announced plans to supply nine gigawatts of power from wind farms along the Red Sea coast the Arabian Gulf.

It has already reportedly planned a first round wind tender of 650 megawatts and a second round of 1.05 gigawatts, with the whole scheme being run by the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-Care).

This commitment is also reflected in its ranking on Ernst & Young’s wind index, where it is ranked 33rd.

There are other sources of renewable energy that have been harnessed by other countries throughout the world, such as hydroelectricity and geothermal power.

Hydropower is produced from energy from both waves and tides, with the former being more popular. However, developing hydropower stations can have an impact on marine environments and it also considered inefficient in terms of energy generation.

Also, hydropower produced from tidal energy is considered expensive. There is potential for providing electricity to desalination plants, usually located next to coastlines, using generators powered by wave and tidal energy thanks to its proximity to the Red Sea coast, but Saudi Arabia has not indicated that it considers this a viable option yet.

Geothermal power is drawn from thermal energy generated and stored in the earth and is considered sustainable and cost effective, although not usually for power generation, as that usually requires proximity to volcanic areas.

According to RG Thermal Energy Solutions, a company set up to address the significant potential for using geothermal energy in the Middle East, countries in the Gulf region have significant reserves of low-enthalpy geothermal resources.

With reservoir temperatures of 90 to 150 degrees Celsius, such resources are unsuitable for generating power (you need temperatures of 150 to 300 degrees Celsius).

However, low-enthalpy resources are ideal for direct applications such as cooling, heating water and desalination, delivering significant energy savings in the process, said RG Thermal Energy Solutions.

Again, however, the Kingdom has not indicated as yet that it will focus on this form of energy.

Instead, Saudi Arabia is focusing the bulk of its renewable energy plans on its powerful supply of sunlight.

According to the ARI report, the country ranks No. 14 in Ernst & Young’s solar index, and this ranking could easily rise if the country’s government is able to translate its ambitions and reportedly huge budget for renewable energy into substantial projects.

According to an energy expert who could not be identified, the Kingdom is definitely serious about getting major solar projects off the ground, especially as this type of energy has become more economically viable to produce.

He said: “Especially for this part of the world, solar is the way forward. We’re seeing enormous drops in price for solar panels.

“Prices for installed solar panels have dropped enormously in the last decade, from around $10 per watt, often to less than $2 per watt.

“You can see this enormous reduction in price thanks to the improving technology and the funds and attention it has been getting.

“This is due to economies of scale, new technologies, competition and support from governments in the form of subsidies and research incentives.

“Wind power is great for really well-resourced wind locations, but somewhere like Saudi Arabia where there’s so much sun, really investing in solar is going to make all the difference.”

He said the manufacturing and operation process for solar panels was extensive, requiring the raw materials of aluminum and silicon to produce the panels themselves in addition to manufacturing, installation and maintenance costs.

However, this presents a challenge, as until recently there was not really an effective method to clean panels in the sunny yet extremely dusty conditions in the past.

The BBC website in November last year reported that a team at King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), led by Australian physics teacher Georg Eitelhuber, developed a fully automated mechanical cleaning solution that pushed dust and dirt away from panel surfaces once a day using a patented “dry sweep” mechanism.

Before the team came up with this solution, the only way to clean panels in such conditions was to use precious desalinated water, which could potentially lead to a high environmental and economic cost for producing solar power in Saudi Arabia.

According to the report, in just one hour a desert sandstorm could soil panels so much, their efficiency is reduced by up to 80 percent.

At the time of the report, this waterless solar panel cleaning device had various patents pending, indicating that it could soon become a reality and help avoid the need for the large amounts of desalinated water and laborers working in 40-degree temperatures.

According to the Ernst & Young report, the Saudi government announced that $109 billion had been earmarked to install 41 gigawatts of solar and nine gigawatts of wind capacity by 2032.

The solar expert believed that such an ambitious program would help solar companies to break into the Kingdom, helped by cooperative projects and work with local expertise from organizations such as KAUST, KA-Care and the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), the latter of which is reportedly home to a 3.5-megawatt solar array.

According to the International Energy Agency, the Kingdom uses a quarter of its 10 million bpd production domestically.

A Citigroup report added that if domestic demand continues to rise at its current rate, around 8 percent annually, the Kingdom could become an oil importer by 2030.

Households consume over half of the country’s energy demand, while 70 percent of power demand is for air-conditioning during the summer months.
The expert said there were opportunities for households in the Kingdom to become more energy efficient by using technology such as solar-powered water heaters and air-conditioners, for example.

He said it was a golden opportunity for new to developing industries to work toward this direction and contribute to reducing energy demand among households and indirectly push the country to focus on providing cleaner and more efficient forms of energy.

“With the right kind of support and the right direction and encouragement, anything is possible. This place truly is the land of opportunity.”

Saudi Gazette - Renewable energy: Is Saudi Arabia the new land of opportunity?