Reliable, low-cost energy underpins Saudi Arabia’s economic growth strategy, and Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud is acutely aware of the importance of supplying this. “If we don’t have a sustainable, reliable and dependable energy sector then we are finished as an economy,” he told the FII conference in Riyadh on 28 October.
Traditionally the power sector has relied on cheap oil feedstock, but the government is investing heavily in gas and renewables in order to end oil burn by 2030. It targets a 50:50 mix of gas and renewables by then, requiring up to 130GW of renewables and 110GW of gas-fired thermal capacity. The pivot is rooted in economic fundamentals rather than ideology. Renewables now routinely provide electricity at a lower price than gas, and the rise of battery storage systems is helping tackle the issue of intermittency. (CONTINUED - 1069 WORDS)
