64 GW production targets…a new historical stage for energy in Saudi Arabia

He described "The new global economy" It is an economy that is shaping up around energy-intensive digital and industrial sectors, the expansion of which depends on stable, low-emission energy supplies. "Without sustainable, reliable energy we can count on, we are finished as an economy" Stressing that this reliability is what the Kingdom built.

This Saudi confidence is represented in a national model for the electricity sector, which is seen as a framework that can be re-applied, and at its core is the idea "The main buyer"Through which one entity purchases fuel from Saudi Aramco, it also purchases electricity from producers, issues competitive bids for traditional and renewable energy projects, and then sells the energy to distributors.

This regulation, combined with long-term central planning and early purchasing, enabled the government to secure low-cost generating equipment, avoid supply chain bottlenecks, and achieve record low cost numbers.

Gas turbines

In this context, he said Minister: " We have purchased all twin gas turbines from Siemens and General Electric until 2028, and if we had delayed by one year, this would not have been possible."

Also, solar energy projects in the Kingdom, such as the Shuaiba project (1.04 US cents per kilowatt hour) and the Najran project (1.09 US cents per kilowatt hour), rank first and second, globally, in terms of low cost.

In the Kingdom, domestic gas is sold for about $2.15 per million British thermal units, that is, much less than European and Asian prices, which exceed 12. Dollars.

Lowest costs for thermal generation globally

The Kingdom also records the lowest costs for thermal generation in the world, while storage costs in batteries reach 409 US dollars per kilowatt hour, and this places it in second place, globally, after China, which costs 404 US dollars per kilowatt hour.
Land, wind, and solar energy

The Kingdom aims to increase its production capacity for electricity, from sources Renewable energy, from 3 gigawatts, which it was in 2020, to 64 gigawatts, through projects to be launched by the end of this year.

About 12.3 gigawatts of it have already been connected to the electrical grid, which the ministry is working to automate by 40% by 2026 AD, that is, before the target date of 2030 AD.

Dawadmi Wind Power Plant

The Dawadmi wind power plant project is considered For wind energy (1.33 US cents per kilowatt hour), whose contract was signed this week, with a consortium led by the South Korean company KEPCO, and which includes the UAE’s Union Water and Electricity Company, the cheapest source of electricity production from wind energy in the world.

The Kingdom is also working to convert or stop facilities that produce 23 gigawatts of electricity by consuming petroleum and its liquids, and replacing it with gas, which is more efficient.

In addition, the minister indicated that gas and energy Renewable, low-cost, will form the basis for the Kingdom’s expansion in the production of clean hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

Renewable energy sources

He described hydrogen, whether produced from renewable energy sources or from natural gas, as a “clean” source if combined with carbon capture projects led by state-owned Aramco. Nuclear power, including small modular reactors, also remains a long-term option.

In his speech, Prince Abdulaziz effectively reshaped the energy transition as an economic opportunity, rather than an environmental constraint, an idea that has always received increasing support from the UAE.

The low-carbon path, based on affordability, comprehensive scale, and reliability, rather than phase-out, appears to be a long-term option. For types of fuel, this is what the Kingdom relies on in consolidating its position ahead of the thirtieth Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Climate Convention (COP30) in Brazil.

The Kingdom also wants its position, in the field of energy, to be understood from a perspective that focuses, to a lesser extent, on low-cost oil, and to a greater extent on the relationship of energy to digitization, broadband, and its commitment to providing reliable energy, in the coming decades, to a world that is increasingly dependent on creating and exchanging data, using energy sources. The least expensive.