DUBAI — Saudi Arabia is installing 70 stations to measure the potential of energy production from sun, wind and geothermal sources as it targets to become solar-powered efficient by 2032, the news agency ibtimes.com.au said on Thursday. Ten of these stations have been put up and will collect all-weather and air-data to show renewable energy sources in all parts of the Kingdom, it said. “Researchers will then be able to access the data through a Web site, relaying information such as solar radiation and wind speed,” the ibtimes.com.au said. “Essentially, the findings will provide potential investors with guidance on where to build renewable-energy related plants. Saudi Arabia wants to attract about $109 billion to be able to create a solar industry that will help give off one-third of its electricity requirements by 2032, or about 41,000 megawatts.” The news agency said Saudi Arabia targets to install 23.9 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power capacity by 2020 and then 54.1 GW by 2032. The Kingdom's efforts reflect a common trend in other Gulf countries which are turning more focus toward clean renewable sources of energy for their power supplies, ibtimes.com.au said. Collectively, they target solar energy as one of the region's main sources of energy by 2017, it said. Apart from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have started aggressive planning toward renewable energy programs. Qatar targets to source 10 percent of the electricity and energy used in water desalination from solar energy by 2018, while Kuwait wants to obtain 10 per cent of its power requirements from renewable energy sources by 2020, it said. Overall, some $155 billion worth of solar power installation projects are in the pipeline for the entire Gulf region. These projects can give off more than 84 GW of power. Meanwhile, another online news agency SyndiGate.Info said the Kingdom will present a national policy statement on renewable and nuclear power generation later this year. It said Saudi Arabia has started a program to assess its potential for generating renewable energy, part of an effort to lure $109 billion for building a solar industry that will free up more of its crude oil for export. King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (Ka-Care), which is responsible of devising the Kingdom's strategy, will install at least 70 stations nationwide to measure the ability to produce electricity from the sun, wind, geothermal and waste sources, it said citing a statement issued on Monday. It confirms the ibtimes.com.au report that 10 stations have already been installed. “The findings will be published in a national atlas by yearend, which will guide investors and researchers studying where to place generation plants,” it said. The Kingdom has said it plans to attract about $109 billion to create a solar industry that will generate a third of its electricity by 2032, or about 41,000 megawatts, SyndiGate.Info said, adding that it is part of the program to generate 54 gigawatts from different sources including nuclear. Currently, about 3 megawatts of solar power plants are working in Saudi Arabia, a capacity that trails Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and the UAE, it said, citing an earlier report by Bloomberg newespaper. — SG
