Renewable energy is accepted as a key source for the future, not only for Saudi Arabia, but also for the world. Saudi Arabia has abundant potential for exploiting solar energy, which is renewable, clean, and freely available. The average annual solar radiation falling on the Arabian Peninsula is about 2200 kWh/m2. Applications of solar energy in Saudi Arabia have been growing since 1960. Solar hydrogen production plant situated at the Solar Village, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, could have been considered as the world's first 350 kW solar-powered hydrogen-generation plant at the time of its inception. The development of solar energy, however, has been relatively low due to several obstacles although utilization of solar energy in its various aspects is very attractive for the country. The main objectives of this study are to address current applications and future aspects of solar energy along with studies conducted in this field and to assess them in the light of available sustainable energy technologies towards establishing energy policies. The solar energy-related topics reviewed include various types of solar radiation correlations, exergetic solar radiation, solar collectors, solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, solar stills, solar-powered irrigation, solar energy-related greenhouses, solar hydrogen, solar water desalination and solar energy education. Some barriers, scenarios and constraints are also covered. The utilization of solar energy could cover a significant part of the energy demand in the country. If a major breakthrough is achieved in the field of solar-energy conversion, Saudi Arabia can be a leading producer and exporter of solar energy in the form of electricity. The geographical location of the country, its widespread unused desert land, and year-round clear skies, all make it an excellent candidate for this.

A key review on present status and future directions of solar energy studies and applications in Saudi Arabia

Due to the vast growth of development in the infrastructure and investment in energy, the electricity consumption in the GCC countries had increased at a fast rate; 12.4% from 2005 to 2009 (3.15%, annually). This rate is much larger than the world average, which is 2.2% for the same period, or USA (0.5%). In 2005, the average Watt per person in the GCC countries was 1149 which is much higher than the world average (297 W per person) or the European Union (700 W/person) – but less than USA (1460 W/person). The GCC countries need to increase its electrical capacity by 60,000 MW, which represents 80% of the current installed capacity, to meet demand in 2015. This means that there is a need to build 50 more gas fired power generator plant turbine (each rated 1400 MW). The GCC countries have realized that depending on gas will not be the solution due to shortage of resource or environmental impact, particularly the GHG emissions. Therefore, they thought back of using renewable energy resources – after lifting it over in 1990s. They also thought of diversity in electricity production where nuclear energy comes to the picture. The power capacity in GCC countries is at around 75,000 MW, a projected 9.5% growth in annual demand will require more electricity and energy projects; expected to invest USD 200 billion to 250 billion in between 14 and 20 energy projects by 2020. The paper lists the major renewable energy projects (mainly solar and wind) in each of the six GCC countries. The total capacity of these projects exceeds 600 MW. Among these projects is the establishment of the first zero emission house (Green house) in the middle east (7 kW solar, wind and fuel cell) constructed in Bapco residence town (Awali) in Bahrain and therefore, been highlighted more in this paper. Moreover, nearly all GCC countries are planning to construct PV plants with large capacity. Also, several projects in Building Integrated Photovoltaic and Building Integrated Wind Turbines are established in GCC countries. The projects made in the GCC countries allow researchers and investors to size the cost of kWh from thermal, PV and wind energy more precisely. For example, it was found that the cost of kWh from large grid connected solar thermal plant (20 MW) – with cost of USD 72.5 million and energy – is US ¢ 12/kWh (assuming a life time of 40 years and a discount rate of 4%) while, the cost issue of kWh from PV Electricity (in the GCC countries) is ranging from US ¢ 27 (for ground mount) to US ¢ 35 (for roof mount) as it was deduced from two actually installed project PV in UAE – a GCC country member. Meanwhile, the cost of 1 kWh from wind electricity in the GCC countries may be from US ¢10 (large turbine ≈2 MW at 80 m height with good wind speed) to US ¢ 15 (for large turbine ≈2 MW at 80 m height with modest wind speed) while the cost of kWh from grid connected Wind farm plant (20 MW) – with a cost of USD 38.6 million and energy – is US ¢ 6.7/kWh to US ¢ 8.8/kWh, depending on the location of wind farm. This makes it very challengeable for investor, government (Feed-in-Tariff) and citizens because each citizen in GCC countries pays only (US cent 1 for each kWh, for consumption less than 3000 kWh, or even nothing for citizens-like in Qatar).

The status of renewable energy in the GCC countries

The building sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is experiencing a rapid expansion owing to factors like economic growth, burgeoning population and modernization. The GCC countries are amongst the highest in the world in terms of per capita energy consumption and environmental emissions. The growth in the building sector is therefore having adverse implications on their energy and environmental scenarios. The article reviews the building sector in the GCC region focusing on two of its most important countries: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). In terms of ongoing investment in the building sector, population and size of economy, KSA and UAE have a collective share of 72%, 80% and 79% respectively in the entire GCC region. The article provides an insight into the policies and practices in the developed countries towards sustainable buildings. In order to drive their building sector towards a sustainable future, the present work recommends that given the wide ranging close ties between the GCC countries, European Union׳s joint action on sustainable development – as is reflected from the 20–20–20 target, a set of legal binding to seek: a 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels; raising the share of EU energy consumption produced from renewable resources to 20%; a 20% improvement in the EU׳s energy efficiency – can be an interesting model to be considered.

Growth and sustainability trends in the buildings sector in the GCC region with particular reference to the KSA and UAE

Scientific evidence suggests important discrepancies between simulated and real energy performance of buildings. This is exacerbated in developing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, by the reliance on leading international building environmental and sustainability assessment schemes (e.g. BREEAM and LEED). The paper proposes to test the overarching hypothesis that the leading international environmental and sustainability assessment schemes are not adapted to the Saudi built environment, with a focus on the residential sector. The paper aims to (a) test the applicability of international leading schemes such as BREEAM and LEED for the assessment of Saudi's built environment, and (b) identify applicable building assessment categories and criteria for Saudi's built environment. As building assessment methods involve multi-dimensional criteria, a consensus based approach is used to conduct the research. Hence, the Delphi technique is selected and conducted in three successive consultation rounds involving world leading experts in the domain of environmental and sustainable assessment schemes, as well as professionals and highly-informed local experts from academia, government and industry. The results reveal that international assessment schemes are not fully applicable to the Saudi built environment, as reflected in the development of a new building environmental and sustainability assessment scheme.

Developing sustainable building assessment scheme for Saudi Arabia: Delphi consultation approach

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has a fast growing building sector driven by factors like burgeoning population, economic and infrastructure development and modernization Buildings, owing to their energy intensive operation, are imposing significant energy, environmental and economic burdens for the country To overcome these challenges and improve the sustainability levels in the building and energy sectors, it has been decided to develop 9500 MWs of renewable energy projects by 2023 Given the annual solar radiation level of over 2200 kWh/m2, solar energy is expected to play the predominant role in achieving this target Traditionally, KSA’s emphasis has been to pursue large-scale energy projects Globally, however, small scale and building related projects have significantly contributed to the rapid growth of solar energy Application of solar technologies in buildings is one of the important areas that has been ignored in the country This paper explores the potential for rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) in KSA’s residential sector Taking into account appropriate PV design considerations and local building construction and cultural practices, it calculates the power generation potential for 13 major cities It is found that a total of 51 TWh of electricity can be annually generated from these cities, accounting for 30% of the total domestic demand Findings of a case study on application of the PV system on 248,452 m2 of rooftop area of the residential buildings in the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals undertaken with the help of ArcGIS 102 and PVsyst modeling have also been provided

Rooftop PV Potential in the Residential Sector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Electricity consumption rates in Saudi Arabia have been steadily on the rise over the past three decades. While the population of about 26 million is growing at a high rate of 3%, the growth in total number of power utility customers is increasing at a higher rate of 5%. Between 2006 and 2007, the Saudi Electric Company, SEC reported an 11.9% growth in total peak loads, which reached 34,953 MW in 2007. Studies show that power demand in Saudi Arabia is expected to continue its rapid increase to reach 60,000 MW over the coming 15 years. In addition to the high rate of population growth, the expanding in industrialization and development plans is among the factors contributing to the rapid increase in power demand in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, major steps need be taken to prepare for the expected future increase in power demand. This paper addresses the actions already taken to increase power generation and availability in Saudi Arabia, and presents recommendations for other actions needed, including the importance of shifting towards renewable energy.

A.H. Mufti

Papers

Present State, Challenges, and Future of Power Generation in Saudi Arabia