By studying “Kaost” .. Determining the 10 best locations for storing solar energy in the Kingdom

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology “Kaost” has reached a new research study of the 10 best proposed sites for storing and energy of the wind in the Red Sea; It contributes to accelerating the Kingdom’s transformation towards the use of renewable energy sources, enhancing water resources management, and enhancing food security in the country in line with.
The Kingdom has huge capabilities in the field of solar energy and wind energy; So the study was interested in determining how to take advantage of the transition to these renewable sources to support the water management in the Kingdom; This achieves at least half of its electrical ability from renewable energy sources; Achieving this goal requires major changes in the energy sector, which was responsible for about half of the carbon dioxide emissions in the Kingdom in 2022.
The leader of the study confirmed Professor Yoshihehidi Wada; The renewable energy is necessary for the future of the Kingdom, and the main challenge is how to store energy to use it in high demand periods; In the Kingdom, electricity consumption increases significantly between the winter and summer seasons in some years; Which requires the need for an infrastructure capable of storing energy extracted from wind and sun sources during the cold months and using it in the hot months.

Electrical energy storage

Professor Wada stated that one of the solutions in which the Kingdom is investing is the batteries; But it stores energy in daily courses only; As for storing energy for longer seasonal cycles; The electrical energy storage is seen with seasonal pumping; Here, desalinated water can be stored in tanks in high mountains and released upon request to generate energy and supply water.
However; The electrical energy storage sites with seasonal pumping are not cheap; The cost of each of them is about ten billion US dollars; Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an accurate evaluation of the proposed location when judging the feasibility and for evaluation purposes. Scientists took into account several factors, including evaporation of stored water, salinity of water, and the feasibility of building solar power plants or wind energy nearby.
And the scientist Julian Hunt indicated that these sites require huge investments at first; Therefore, it is necessary to estimate its value as accurately as much as possible, and this study takes into account the water management in the design; This gives a more comprehensive appreciation of how to support large -scale projects for the adoption of renewable energy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.