Eng. Majid Al-Rifai, Group Chief Commercial Officer at the leading provider of renewable energy solutions Desert Technologies, confirmed that solar energy projects are at the forefront of renewable energy projects being established throughout the Kingdom in accordance with Vision 2030 and the initiatives that fall under it in the renewable energy sector. Embodying efforts to localize the renewable energy sector, promoting local content, and enabling the manufacture of solar energy production components locally. This will qualify the Kingdom to become a global center for Solar energy and its technologies during the next ten years, develop the Kingdom’s economy and adopt the latest innovations in it to confront the effects of climate change and mitigate global warming.
During a workshop recently organized by the Desert Technologies Group in Riyadh on ‘Localization of the PV Industry in Saudi Arabia’, Al-Rifai added that the Kingdom owns raw materials, sunlight, land and will, which are ingredients that qualify it to be a homeland for renewable energy. This is within the framework of the National Renewable Energy Program, which is one of the most important national initiatives under Vision 2030. The Kingdom is expected to witness the development of over 35 renewable energy projects by the year 2030, and the production of renewable energy to go from 9.5 GW in 2019 to 27.3 GW in 2024 through the five-year program. The goal is to reach the target of 58.7 GW in renewable energy by the year 2030, in line with the vision of Crown Prince Mohammed Salman to rely on clean energy sources, focus on solar energy projects, and provide thousands of job opportunities for Saudi labor. It is essential to stress the importance of a partnership between the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the Japanese SoftBank Group to develop $200 billion worth of solar energy projects in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom is expected to witness the development of over 35 renewable energy projects by the year 2030
Eng. Majed Al-Rifai stressed that these projects will open doors for a strategic partnership with the Saudi private sector, which has become an active participant in the development of renewable energy projects, primarily in the field of solar energy. The focus will be on the value of local content to build an advanced industrial block, especially with the availability of localizing three segments of the solar energy industry in the short term (solar panel manufacturing, cell manufacturing, transformer, and module assembly).
According to Eng. Majed Al-Rifaie: The solar panel market in the Kingdom is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 30% up to 2024, and this will be done through Investments from international entities, Transfer of Technology to Saudi Companies, Investments in the Private Sector, Job Creation, and Improved Localization Strategies for Saudi Arabia.
The solar panel market in the Kingdom is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 30% up to 2024
At the conclusion of the workshop, Al-Rifaie referred to the role that Desert Technologies Group plays in the field of solar energy, as in 2020 it launched a new section dedicated to energy storage solutions, including solar PV generators such as Sahara containers, which provides new opportunities for existing economies and creates jobs. It supports the permanent import of new skills and technologies in the region and directly contributes to the creation of a knowledge-based economy. He stressed that the Desert Technologies Group aims to achieve a capacity of 1,000 MW by 2025, becoming the regional leading solar modules producer.