Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy capacity to double by year-end

Saudi’s renewables mix to double in 2025: The Kingdom’s renewable energy capacity is expected to nearly double to 12.7 GW by the end of this year from 6.551 GW currently, according to a report by Mees. Renewables capacity is also forecast to reach 16.5 GW in 2026, and 20 GW in 2027, the report said.

The pipeline: Six solar projects are set to come online this year by the summer as energy demand peaks, adding some 6.16 GW of renewable energy capacity. These projects include:

• Ar Rass 2, with a capacity of 2 GW;
• Al Kahfah, adding 1.43 GW;
• Saad 2, with a capacity of 1.13 GW;
• Henakiyah 1, adding 1.1 GW;
• Tabarjal, adding 400 MW;
• Wadi Al Dawaser, with a capacity of 112 MW.

All part of a bigger plan: The renewables push comes under Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Program (NREP), which aims to phase out oil burning to reach a 50/50 mix of renewables and gas by 2030. The Energy Ministry is targeting 20 GW of new capacity per year to reach 100 to 130 GW of output from renewable power by the end of the decade.

PIF is leading the charge: Under the NREP, 70% of capacity is managed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and built by homegrown renewables giant Acwa Power, while the remaining 30% is awarded through a tendering process. The PIF-backed solar PV capacity — amounting to 3.56 GW — accounts for 54% of the country’s total and is expected to reach 64% by the end of the year, according to the report.

REMEMBER- The Saudi Power Procurement Company also prequalified a total of 22 utility project developers — including national and international bidders — for the sixth round of wind and solar projects under the NREP in November.

Battery systems will be crucial: The report argues that ramping up investments in battery energy storage systems (BESS) is necessary to maintain grid stability due to the intermittency of renewable energy supply which relies on external sources such as solar or wind. BESS capacity is expected to reach 8 GWh — four times the current capacity — by year-end with the Kingdom targeting 48 GWh by 2030.

The regional angle: The Kingdom’s currently installed renewable capacity at 6.55 GW is the highest in the Mena region, with the UAE closely following at 5.8 GW, which is forecast to reach 6.6 GW by year-end. Saudi Arabia and the UAE had the biggest share of capacity expansion in the region in 2023.