Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Earth

Saudi Arabia Eyes a Future Beyond Oil (nytimes.com) 58

An anonymous reader shares a report: At a two-hour drive from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, rows of solar panels extend to the horizon like waves on an ocean. Despite having almost limitless reserves of oil, the kingdom is embracing solar and wind power, partly in an effort to retain a leading position in the energy industry, which is vitally important to the country but fast changing. Looking out over 3.3 million panels, covering 14 square miles of desert, Faisal Al Omari, chief executive of a recently completed solar project called Sudair, said he would tell his children and grandchildren about contributing to Saudi Arabia's energy transition.

Although petroleum production retains a crucial role in the Saudi economy, the kingdom is putting its chips on other forms of energy. Sudair, which can light up 185,000 homes, is the first of what could be many giant projects intended to raise output from renewable energy sources like solar and wind to around 50 percent by 2030. Currently, renewable energy accounts for a negligible amount of Saudi electricity generation. Analysts say achieving that hugely ambitious goal is unlikely. "If they get 30 percent, I would be happy because that would be a good signal," said Karim Elgendy, a climate analyst at the Middle East Institute, a research organization in Washington. Still, the kingdom is planning to build solar farms at a rapid pace. "The volumes you see here, you don't see anywhere else, only in China," said Marco Arcelli, chief executive of Acwa Power, Sudair's Saudi developer and a growing force in the international electricity and water industries.

The Saudis not only have the money to expand rapidly, but are free of the long permit processes that inhibit such projects in the West. "They have a lot of investment capital, and they can move quickly and pull the trigger on project development," said Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research institution in Washington. Even Saudi Aramco, the crown jewel of the Saudi economy and the producer of nearly all its oil, sees a shifting energy landscape. To gain a foothold in solar, Aramco has taken a 30 percent stake in Sudair, which cost $920 million, the first step in a planned 40-gigawatt solar portfolio -- more than Britain's average power demand -- intended to meet the bulk of the government's ambitions for renewable energy. The company plans to set up a large business of storing greenhouse gases underground.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Saudi Arabia Eyes a Future Beyond Oil

Comments Filter:
  • Civil rights, human decency, leaving the middle ages?

    Thought not.
    • by tizan ( 925212 )

      Why should they....they are exporting their form of government everywhere.
      Isn't that a form of government where people of some ethnic origins and women are second class citizens being imported back in the US too (and oh let's not talk of sexual orientation, that does not exist, the bible does not mention it) ?

    • by shilly ( 142940 )

      Democracy, no.
      Somewhat greater civil rights, definitely yes. I would not want to be a woman in Saudi. But it’s still much better now than five years ago, and better five years ago than five years before that. This is true in both small ways (eg fewer gender segregated queues in restaurants in malls) and larger (eg women now hold senior positions, eg CIOs at hospitals).

      It’s still bad, but it is distinctly less bad.

    • I don't know. How well is the USA keeping up with current public sentiments on civil rights (e.g. systemic racism & under-regulated & under-enforced labour laws), & human decency (e.g. participating in & partly funding the genocide in Palestine)?

      In Saudi Arabia, we can blame the autocratic nobility for all the ills that they do. In the USA, the electorate gets to decide who represents those who commit the atrocities. Ethically speaking, what's the difference?

      Oh, but "Freedom!", right?
  • Brought to you by the same idiot who thought of the Saudi Megacity project! A 175km long city with one, long road!

    When the rich brat son of a dictator who has never been told 'no' runs an nation.

    • From reading the summary, I'm not seeing the ridiculous part. They're building solar and wind plants, and investing in businesses in those technologies. Like everybody else.

      Based on your response, I was hoping for something more wacky, like the megacity.

      • Oh, I didn't even read it. But I'm sure he'll fuck it up.

      • by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @04:41PM (#64508683)

        They can invest in whatever infrastructure they want, but their economy is based on oil and their culture on oppression.

        KSA is doomed. When the oil is gone, there will be a sudden drop in wealth because they have very little else to offer the world. Maybe Muslim tourism for pilgrimages to Mecca. It's not like they're ever going to be able to sustain a modern civilization on foreign non-Muslim tourists; even 'non-Sunni Muslim' is an issue.

  • by TheNameOfNick ( 7286618 ) on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @03:36PM (#64508531)

    Technology is just bling if your society is stuck in the dark ages.

    • by PsychoSlashDot ( 207849 ) on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @05:05PM (#64508711)

      Technology is just bling if your society is stuck in the dark ages.

      Well, sure, but...

      "Abortion in Saudi Arabia is only legal in cases of risk to a woman’s life, fetal impairment, or to protect her physical and mental health.[1][2] Pregnancy arising from incest or rape also qualifies for a legal abortion under the mental health exemption."

      In at least some ways they're ahead of at least some US states.

  • A future beyond dictatorship for Saudi Arabia? Now that is unthinkable.

  • I guess when you're busy chopping up reporters, silly things like protecting civilization from a mass extinction event can take a back burner.
  • Saudi Arabia is hellbound. The people of the region may, in a superbly optimistic future, choose to establish more honorably-founded states in its place and do better. But don't bet on it. It will be very hard for humanity as a whole to buy itself out of the fossil fuel pit, but certain regimes and organizations have no shot.
  • How many homes? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Budenny ( 888916 ) on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @03:59PM (#64508591)

    "Sudair, which can light up 185,000 homes"

    There is something missing here, namely storage. You need to light up your home when its dark, but that is when there is no solar generation. So, inquiring minds want to know, what about the batteries?

    • by haruchai ( 17472 )

      One would think Saudi Arabia would build lots of concentrated solar thermal with molten salt storage.
      They have the land, climate & insolation to make it work.

      • One would think Saudi Arabia would build lots of concentrated solar thermal with molten salt storage.

        One would think they could use nuclear fission and molten salt storage to keep the lights on.

        They have the land, climate & insolation to make it work.

        Plenty of nations around the world have the land, climate, and insolation for solar + storage but they did the math and figured out that nuclear fission would make a nice addition to their future energy supplies. China and UAE come to mind as examples.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It looks like they have a 600MWh battery system coming: https://www.energy-storage.new... [energy-storage.news]

    • Even without storage, the solar generation can offset extra demand caused by AC running during the day. Also wikipedia says 92% of electric is generated by oil or natural gas The more that is generated via solar means they can export more oil/nat gas as they do not need to burn it for domestic electrical consumption and I would think it being a desert with lots of sun and lots of empty open space (desert) it would make a good area for solar
  • by JaredOfEuropa ( 526365 ) on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @05:26PM (#64508739) Journal
    For SA, it's "do or die"; their entire economy depends on oil revenues, and even at prices below $70 a barrel, they are going to burn through their (massive) sovereign wealth fund pretty quickly. As one guy put it: "My granddad rode a camel, my dad had a Hilux, and I drive a Rolls... but I expect my grandchildren to ride camels again". At the moment they have a metric crap-tonne of cash to throw around, and for their sake I hope they put it to good use, and invest in businesses that will last beyond peak oil/
    • I think you are underestimating how much modern society is dependent on oil and coal. I am talking beyond driving a car and heating your home. I am talking about these things:
      Smelting of steel and other metals: For these things you need carbon. Steel in particular can also be smelted using hydrogen, but you will need to produce it using renewables for it to be sustainable. Also, it means a serious technology shift that nobody in their right mind will finance without substantial government support. It will
  • by TJHook3r ( 4699685 ) on Wednesday May 29, 2024 @05:57PM (#64508809)
    It's easier to build capital projects when your country has no interesting or beautiful natural features to spoil and a vast supply of expendable labour
  • They have the cash, the need to diversify, the insolation, the space, and solar is cheap to build. If anything, I’d have thought they could reach their goals more quickly. (I’d also have thought bifacial vertical solar would deliver better yields given the temps in Saudi, but I’m no engineer)

  • Sudair, which can light up 185,000 homes

    What's that in kilowatts or megawatts?
  • It won’t ever work.

    Not a chance.

    Saudi Barbaria’s ruling family, the Sauds, is buttressed by the wahabbite clergy (which was directly responsible for most islamic terrorist attacks in the West).

    In return for a large amount of funds, the clergy brainwash the population into backing the Sauds and spreads the religion of hate throughout the world by building mosques all over the place. The clergy have their hands firmly around the Sauds’ balls, and they totally have the power to topple the

  • If they have such amazing access to capital, less red tape, and strong political will, they should just actually do it, instead of paying media companies and journalists to write articles about it.

May the bluebird of happiness twiddle your bits.

Working...