Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia: Current Status ...

2017 9th IEEE-GCC Conference and Exhibition (GCCCE)

Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia: Current Status, Initiatives and Challenges Samir El-Nakla, Chedly B. Yahya, Helen Peterson and Omar K.M. Ouda College of Engineering Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Mohamed Ouda College of Engineering Majmah University Majmah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract - There is an increased demand for energy worldwide, and 80 % of the present energy use is based on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not sustainable and generate many concerns that challenged the scientific community for decades. Renewable energy technologies can address most of these concerns including energy security, economic growth, competitiveness, health costs and environmental degradation. In this context, the utilization of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy appears to be one of the most efficient and effective ways of achieving this goal since renewable energy is abundant universally and holds huge ecological and economic promise. Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the world’s major producer and exporter of fuel, and represents one of the biggest consumers of petroleum in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is interested in taking an active part in the development and exploitation of renewable energy technologies. The KSA has developed an ambitious plan to generate more than 50% of the country energy demand from renewable energy by the year 2040. This paper highlights the current status of energy industry in KSA with focus on renewable and energy-efficient technologies, major achievements, and current government policies and challenges.

plants spread across the country [8, 10]. In addition to everincreasing electricity demand, the electricity sector in KSA is struggling with many other issues that may jeopardize the sector sustainability including: aging power plants, suboptimal electricity tariff, inefficient legal and institutional framework, and low public awareness of electricity conservation. Moving towards a more sustainable model, the KSA government established King Abdullah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) with the aim to utilize the indigenous renewable energy resources through science, research and industry [10]. The ambition of KACARE program is to generate 72 GW energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, nuclear and waste-to-energy (WTE) by 2032 [8,10,11]. The performance of KACARE and the Saudi Government plan for electricity sector development have never been scientifically studied and evaluated. Additionally, there are very limited studies that document the status of renewable energy in the Kingdom and little have been done to evaluate its full potential. Several studies were conducted to analyze the potential of various renewable energy sources [12-20] and nuclear energy [21,22]. King AbdulAziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), in cooperation with US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), established a network of 12 stations spread across KSA territory to monitor solar radiation [23] and established a renewable resources Atlas for KSA to support the strategic plan of increasing the renewable sources portion in the energy mix [24]. With all this infrastructure and strategic plans in place, the successful implementation requires the appropriate policy to encourage the renewable energy projects through feed in tariffs as applied in all countries with mature renewable energy programs such as USA, Japan, Germany and Spain [25,26].

Index Terms — Sustainable energy, Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Biomass, Energy efficiency

I. INTRODUCTION The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is located in the Middle East and spread over about 2.15 million km2, which constitutes around 80 percent of the Arabian Peninsula [1, 2]. The country has a very harsh environment where the temperature varies from as high as 50°C in the shade in midsummer to 0°C or even lower in winter [1,3,4]. The high variation in temperature produces strong variance in electricity demand over the year resulting mainly from high demand of electricity for air conditioning during the hot weather season. In the last four decades, KSA has witnessed massive economic development coupled with high population growth and urbanization; driven by crude oil revenues [5,6,7]. High economic development as well as population and urban growth have resulted in exponential growth of the country’s electricity demand [8, 9]. The electricity demand grew at an average rate of 5.8% between 2006 and 2010 [9]. In 2014, the electricity peak demand reached about 57 Gigawatt (GW) and expected to surpass 120 GW by 2040 [8, 10]. The current demand is typically met through conventional crude, heavy oil, and gas powered

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In this context, this paper investigates the current status, potential renewable energy options in Saudi Arabia in addition to the major strategies and challenges. II. ENERGY DEMAND The demand for electricity in KSA has increased rapidly in recent years. It has expanded from about 163,151 GWh in 2006 to about 281,154 GWh in 2014 with an average growth rate of about 7.1% per year whilst the peak load has increased by an average rate of 8.1% per year in the same period [27]. The peak electrical demand is projected to reach 120 GW by the year 2032 [31].This high

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demand has been driven mainly by growth in population, urbanization, higher standards of living, and cross sectorial economic growth. The increase in standards of living and urbanization has resulted in per capita consumption increase from about 6764 kWh in 2006 to 9137 kWh in 2014, at an average growth rate of about 3.4% per year [27]. The average sectorial distribution of electricity demand is 51%, 13%, 13%, 19%, and 4% for residential, governmental commercial, industrial, and other sectors respectively (Table 1). Moreover, expansion in the industrial sector and aggressive development plans have pushed the gross domestic production (GDP) growth to an average of about 5.2% per year, resulting in additional industrial electricity demand [28].

A. Solar Energy 1) Potential The kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoys perennial clear skies with approximately 3,000 hours of sunshine per year and annual insolation levels reaching 2450 kWh/m2 as shown in Fig.2. In addition, KSA has empty stretches of desert that can host solar arrays and vast deposits of sand that can be used in the manufacture of silicon photovoltaic cells [33,33b]. As a comparison, Germany has insolation levels that barely reach 1700 kWh/m2 in Freiburg and leads the world with a total installed PV capacity of 40GW and total PV generated electricity of 38.5TWh by end of 2015 [33c]

Table 1: KSA Electricity Demand 2006-2014, Consumption by Sector. Year

2006 2007 2008

Demand 163.2 169.3 181.1 (TWh) Annual 3.8% 7.0% Growth Rate

Residential

2009 2010

2011 2012 2013 2014 Avg.

193.5 212.3 219.6 240.3 256.7 281.2 6.8% 9.7% 3.5% 9.4% 6.8% 9.5% 7.1%

53% 53% 53.4% 52% 51.2% 50% 50% 48% 49% 51%

Government 13% 14% 14.4% 14% 13.4% 12% 13% 12% 13% 13% Commercial 10% 11% 11.6% 12% 13.6% 15% 16% 15% 15% 13% Industrial

21% 18% 17.9% 18% 18.2% 19% 17% 21% 20% 19%

Others

3%

4%

3.7%

4%

3.6% 4%

4%

4%

4%

4%

Peak demand in the KSA is highly influenced by the seasonal variation in ambient temperature. In the hot season (April to October), the electricity demand is about 40% higher than winter demand [30, 31]. This high summer swing factor resulted in a requirement to install electricity generation capacity considerably higher than the base load requirements. Furthermore, the residential, commercial, and government sectors accounts for as much as 80% of total power demand in KSA, with 70 % of that taken up solely by air conditioning [32].

Fig.2. Solar Radiation Map for Saudi Arabia [34]

Recognizing the huge solar potential, The King Abdallah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) put a strategic plan to generate 72 GW of electricity from renewable energy sources solar PV (16GW), Solar CSP Thermal (25GW), wind (9GW), nuclear (17.6 GW), waste-to-energy (WTE 3GW) and Geothermal (1GW) by 2032 [8,35]. The KACARE plan target year of 2032 was reviewed and pushed back to 2040, as announced by the KACARE president during a January 20, 2015 Renewable Energy World conference in Abu Dhabi [36].

III. MAJOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES IN KSA Due to the geographical location and climate, Saudi Arabia is an excellent candidate for renewable energy projects. Besides, the country’s current initiatives are to promote the use of renewable energy in the upcoming decades. Recently, many plans and projects were developed in order to move from the current fossil fuel dominated energy picture to include more alternative energy resources. Based on Saudi Plan [KACARE 2010] and by the year 2032, the portion of alternative energy will increase gradually toward the exploitation of renewable energy resources as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Reasons appear to be linked to the kingdom’s desire to build its own renewable manufacturing business with money from the program. However, there are several concrete steps and small pilot projects underway that shows that the KACARE plan is still in place as will be detailed next. 2) Solar Energy Projects Since 2010 many solar energy projects have been implemented or in the process of implementation as shown in table 2. These projects are expected to set the stage for larger scale projects that will support the Kingdom’s KACARE renewable energy initiatives. One of major drivers for solar energy projects is Aramco and Taqnia (KACST). Some larger scale projects based on Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) have been planned by SEC include the Green Duba project designed to generate up to 550 megawatts (MW) from the combined cycle plant with the solar field supplying steam for an additional 50 MW [37]. The other

Fig.1. Long-term Renewable Energy Targets (source: K.A.CARE)

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two planned ISCC projects include a 1,050MW plant at Waad Al-Shamal (North KSA) and a 3,780MW in Taiba (Madinah), with a 50 MW and 180MW solar component, respectively.

grown tremendously since the 1980s in many developed countries as a result of frequent energy crises and persistent issues of environmental pollution. Wind energy is strongly recommended for maintaining a clean atmosphere since it has a little impact of offshore.

Table 2: Top solar projects in KSA [38] No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Project KACST (Uyaynah) KAUST Solar Park Pilot project Saudi Aramco Solar Car Park Princess Noura University (Thermal) King Abdullah Financial District King Abdulaziz International Airport Development Project KAPSARC project KAPSARC II project Al-Khafji PV plant (Desalination) Solar Energy Project PV Plant at Al-Aflaj (South of Riyadh)

Power 350kW 2 MW 500 kW 10.5 MW 25 MWth 200 KW 5.4 MW

Comm. date 1983 2010 2011 2012 2012 2012 2013

3.5 MW 1.8 MW 15 MW 100 MW 50 MW

2013 2014 2017 2018 2015.

Several studies were conducted to assess the potential of wind energy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Wind speed data are available from different sources in Saudi Arabia such as King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, the Meteorology and Environment Protection administration and Saudi Aramco. The wind map of Saudi Arabia indicates that the kingdom is characterized by the existence of two vast windy regions along the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea coastline zones. Average annual wind speed in these two windy areas exceeds 9 knots (16.7 km/h) and ranges from 14 to 22 km/h and from 16 to 19 km/h over the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea coastal areas, respectively. It was also demonstrated that the best sites are on the Arabian Gulf near Dharan city. Another study revealed that the cities of Dhulum and Arar were potential sites for off-grid, remote wind turbines and also proved the viability of using gridconnected wind turbines to partially empower the two coastal cities of Yanbu and Dhahran. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia has a vast uninhabited land area with a long coastline free from man-made obstacles presenting a possible wind resource [43].

3) Solar Energy Infrastructure Following the announcement of the KACARE strategic plan in 2010, several companies were setup in preparation for getting a share of the expected large number of solar energy projects. Some of these companies invested in factories to make photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and panels while other companies focused on solar energy project implementation. Table 3 lists the main players in PV modules fabrication and project implementation.

The data collected from 20 meteorological stations during the period of 1980–2012 were analyzed. Samples of accurate data for the different cities inland are illustrated in Table 3 including the pressure and the wind speed data collected. The measured wind speeds at all the stations are averaged. The maximum wind speed reaches up to 16.5 m/s in Guriat station, while the minimum wind speed is 7.7 m/s in Gizan. The derived average wind speed ranges from 2.1 to 4.43 m/s. The maximum wind speed is 4.43 m/s in Al Wejh, while the minimum wind speed is 2.1 m/s in Nejran. Previous studies have shown that these wind generators are practically efficient at 4.5 m/s and higher. Wind data of the 20 locations in Saudi Arabia have been listed in Table 4. Monthly mean wind speeds and wind powers ranged from 2.5 to 4.4 m/s, and from 21.8 to 77.7 Wm-2, respectively [44]. The power available from wind is a function of the cube of the wind speed. Installed wind power stations can deliver power far quicker than any other conventional source. Results recommended that wind energy would be more profitably used for local and small-scale applications.

Table 3: List of Companies specializing in Solar Energy in KSA [40] No.

Company

Date

1

KACST: Solar

2010

2

Taqnia Solar

2014

3

AlAfandi Group: Solar (Jeddah)

2015

4

Desert Technologies (Jeddah): Solar

2016

5 6

Desert Technologies (Jeddah): EPC ACWA Power (Riyadh)

2008

Another important strength is the establishment of research centers such as the KACST Energy Research Institute (ERI) and the KACST PV Labs. The KACST ERI cooperated with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to establish a network of 12 solar radiation stations spread over all KSA regions [39,40,41]. The radiation stations have been used by KACARE to produce the Renewable Resource Atlas of Saudi Arabia in support of achievement of a sustainable energy mix. The Atlas provides newly collected and historical solar and wind resource monitoring data, plus satellite-based modeled data, for use by developers, researchers, government institutions, and policy-makers [41]. The KACST PV Labs provide another important resource that specializes in PV module testing and certification based on International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and newly developed desert certification procedures by KACST [42].

Figure 3 represents the monthly mean wind speed in three different locations. Compared to Riyadh and Jeddah, Dhahran has the highest wind speed throughout the year, which attained the maximum in June achieving 5.8 m/s. The lowest wind speeds in these three locations are measured in October. Even though wind energy conversion is recognized as one of the most promising options among other renewable energy resources, there are still challenges to its universal use.

B. Wind Energy Recently, wind energy has attracted a great deal of attention as one of the possible alternative energy sources. The interest and motivation for harnessing wind power have

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Table 4: Long-term statistics of pressure and wind speed parameters for 20 meteorological stations

addition to delivering significant energy savings in the process [45].

Source: Environ Dev Sustain (2015) Pressure (mb) Wind speed (m/s) Mean Max Mean Dhahran 1006.7 4.38 11.8 Gizan 1007.7 3.24 7.7 Guriat 954.8 4.22 16.5 Jeddah 1007.3 3.71 11.3 Turaif 916.9 4.33 14.4 Riyadh 942.4 3.09 8.8 Yanbu 1007.8 3.76 10.3 Abha 794 2.94 14.9 Hail 901.3 3.24 10.8 Al-Jouf 936.1 4.02 15.9 Al-Wejh 1007.9 4.43 11.8 Arar 949.6 3.61 12.9 Bisha 884 2.47 10.3 Gassim 937.6 2.78 9.3 Khamis 797.9 3.14 12.9 Nejran 879.9 2.1 8.8 Qaisumah 969.5 3.55 11.8 Rafha 960.3 3.86 12.4 Tabouk 926 2.73 15.5 Tarif 855.4 3.66 10.3

Geothermal resources are mainly located in the southwestern parts of the kingdom and are associated with a series of volcanic rocks and ridges. The Jizan region is a promising geothermal target which is characterized by the presence of a number of structurally related hot springs with surface temperature from 46 to 79° C. This form of energy has some disadvantages such as CO2 emissions, noise and odor (H2S), availability of sites and high cost [46].

Station

D. Biomass Biomass is completely natural coming from living resources and includes solid biomass, biogas, liquid biofuel and municipal waste. In recent years, the interest in using biomass as an energy source has increased. It currently represents approximately 14 % of world final energy consumption [47]. Estimates have indicated that 50 % of the world’s primary energy use could come from biomass by the year 2050 [48]. Abundant clean energy biomass fuel products are mass-produced and harvested to be used in everything from engines to power plants because they cause limited harmful carbon dioxide emissions damaging the ozone layer. However, there are several disadvantages including allocation of large areas of land to grow crops and producing biofuels instead of food crops, both of which affect food security, especially in highly populated developing countries. This is particularly true in Saudi Arabia which is plagued with declining arable land due to desertification and drought, and water scarcity.

Not all winds can be harnessed to meet the timing of energy demands. Since the power generated can fluctuate due to intermittent wind patterns, this resource cannot be

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is a chronic environmental problem in most developing countries, including the KSA. The concept of Waste-to-Energy (WTE) is known as one of the several technologies capable of benefiting a society which desires to reduce fossil-fuel addiction. Currently, there is no WTE facility existing in the KSA. The MSW is collected and disposed in landfills untreated. A substantial increase in the population by 3.4 %/y over the last 35 years coupled with urbanization and raised living standards have resulted in high generation rate of MSW. In 2014, about 15.3 Mt of MSW was generated in KSA. Food and plastic waste are the two main waste streams, which covers 70 % of the total MSW. This waste is highly organic (up to 72 %) in nature and food waste covers 50.6 % of it. An estimated electricity potential of 2.99 TWh can be generated annually, if all of the food waste is utilized in anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities. Similarly, 1.03 and 1.55 TWh electricity can be produced annually if all of the plastics and other mixed waste are processed in the pyrolysis and refuse derived fuel (RDF) technologies respectively [49].

Figure 3: Mean monthly wind speed from 1978 to 2012 Source: Environ Dev Sustain (2015) 17:859–886

stored unless batteries are used. Furthermore, good wind sites are often located in remote locations far from areas of electric power demand such as cities. Saudi Arabia is in the process of developing and evaluating the potential of this resource. C. Geothermal Energy Geothermal energy is generated from heat stored in the soil or the collection of engrossed heat resulting from underground. A huge amount of thermal energy is produced and stored in the earth’s core, mantle and crust. This form of renewable energy is considered sustainable and costeffective. It contributes to 10,000 MW of power produced over the world. Geothermal has several advantages including very high efficiency, lower CO2 emissions than fossil fuels and lower land use disturbance. Saudi Arabia has significant reserves of low-enthalpy geothermal resources suitable for direct uses such as water cooling, heating and desalination in

Generally, using biomass remains controversial in oilbased and gas-based economies or those having great potential of solar and wind energy and is not well exploited yet. Based on its waste stream, Saudi Arabia could potentially develop WTE technologies that would result in the twin benefits of waste reduction and clean energy production.

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ACKNOWLEGEMENT

V. CONCLUSION

The authors would like to acknowledge the support and funding research by Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU).

The use of conventional energy is crucial to the economy and leads to environmental issues. Renewable energy is considered a key source contributing significantly to the international energy mix in light of unpredictable oil price. Although Saudi Arabia is a leading oil producer country, it clearly recognizes the urgent need for a growing commitment toward renewable energy application and promotion in order to achieve energy security as well as freeing up crude oil for export rather than satisfying domestic demand at heavily subsidized prices. It is obvious that solar and wind energy can contribute considerably to the coverage of a significant part of the energy demand in the kingdom especially solar. In fact, Saudi Arabia can be a leading among other countries of solar energy after developing solar energy conversion. The continuing drop in the price of the photovoltaic solar panels, currently there are ongoing solar projects in some Saudi Arabian regions in which solar energy use becoming feasible and cost-effective and competitive. However, some barriers may exist such as large reserves of oil with relatively low cost compared to solar energy and the availability of governmental subsidies for oil and electricity generation which does not exist in solar energy programs. In addition, the dust effect, which in some parts, can reduce solar energy by 10–20 %. Concerning wind energy development, Saudi Arabia is planning to generate electricity for grid-connected systems as well as wind diesel hybrid applications for remote villages by using this clean resource. Geothermal energy and waste-to-energy can contribute to the energy mix in the future. The advancement of renewable energy technologies, especially related to solar and wind energy, should be enhanced in order to reduce energy demand and provide cleaner and more efficient forms of energy.

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