{"id":203,"date":"2025-07-14T13:27:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T13:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=203"},"modified":"2025-07-14T13:27:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T13:27:33","slug":"saudi-arabia-to-boost-renewables-with-8bn-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=203","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia to boost renewables with $8bn investment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Stay informed with free updates<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Simply sign up to the <!-- -->Renewable energy<!-- --> myFT Digest &#8212; delivered directly to your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=4bb56e48-7385-4566-8e73-a863c3f5a63b&amp;concept-id=29e9fad1-14fc-480b-a89c-cd964750bd80\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>A consortium led by Saudi utilities giant ACWA Power is to invest $8.3bn to build 15 gigawatts of solar and wind farms in the kingdom as it accelerates its push into renewables.<\/p>\n<p>ACWA Power, owned by the country\u2019s sovereign wealth fund, is joined by Aramco Power, part of Saudi Aramco, in the consortium that has signed power purchase agreements with the state-owned electricity buyer to build five solar and two wind projects in four regions across the kingdom.<\/p>\n<p>The deals mark a significant step forward in the country\u2019s ambition to generate half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 as part of a plan launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the Saudi economy away from its dependence on oil revenues. The world\u2019s biggest oil exporter also wants to cut its carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2060. <\/p>\n<p>The kingdom had about 4.34 gigawatts of solar capacity as of the end of 2024, according to the Energy Institute\u2019s latest Statistical Review of World Energy, but wants to have up to 130GW of solar and wind capacity by the end of the decade. <\/p>\n<p>A rough rule of thumb is that one gigawatt can potentially supply electricity for about 1mn homes. Almost all of Saudi Arabia\u2019s electricity is currently supplied by oil and gas-fired power plants. <\/p>\n<p>The Saudi government described the agreements as \u201camong the world\u2019s largest\u201d at prices that are \u201cthe lowest globally\u201d, according to an official statement. It went on to say that they were a result of \u201cthe efficiency of the kingdom\u2019s financing and development models and the growing confidence in the kingdom\u2019s investment environment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Prince Mohammed\u2019s older half-brother Prince Abdulaziz, who serves as energy minister, attended the signing ceremony for the deals in Riyadh on Sunday. The Water and Electricity Holding Co, also controlled by the Pif, is part of the consortium. <\/p>\n<p>Solar power is growing rapidly in the Middle East thanks to its abundant sun and the falling cost of solar panels, and as Gulf countries look to free up more oil and gas for export. <\/p>\n<p>The Financial Times reported in January that, from a low base, the Middle East is the fastest growing region outside of China in terms of adding new renewable electricity capacity. <\/p>\n<p>The central Riyadh region will have two solar and two wind projects, while the remaining solar projects will be in the regions of Mecca and Medina, as well as Aseer province. The projects should be up and running by 2028, according to a joint statement from ACWA Power and partners. <\/p>\n<p>ACWA Power is one of the largest renewable energy companies in the Middle East, with operations in 14 countries across the region, Africa and Asia. The company has recently announced its entry in China as it seeks to expand its footprint despite concerns over trade tensions with the US.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe decided to enter China because it\u2019s the biggest market in the world in renewables, by far. So it makes sense when you want to grow to do it where there is growth,\u201d chief executive Marco Arcelli told the Financial Times this year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Saudi #Arabia #boost #renewables #8bn #investment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Renewable energy myFT Digest &#8212; delivered directly to your inbox. A consortium led by Saudi utilities giant ACWA Power is to invest $8.3bn to build 15 gigawatts of solar and wind farms in the kingdom as it accelerates its push into renewables. ACWA Power, owned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[277,275,212,278,276,274],"class_list":{"0":"post-203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-8bn","9":"tag-arabia","10":"tag-boost","11":"tag-investment","12":"tag-renewables","13":"tag-saudi"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}