State of the Art of Renewable Sources Potentialities in the Middle East: A Case Study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Gianfranco Di Lorenzo, Erika Stracqualursi, Giovanni Vescio and Rodolfo Araneo ()
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Gianfranco Di Lorenzo: Electrical Engineering Division of DIAEE, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Erika Stracqualursi: Electrical Engineering Division of DIAEE, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Vescio: Technip Energies, Viale Castello della Magliana 68, 00148 Roma, Italy
Rodolfo Araneo: Electrical Engineering Division of DIAEE, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-27

Abstract: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is experiencing a surge in electricity demand, with power generation increasing 4 times in 25 years from 1990 to 2014. Despite the abundant primary renewable energy sources, the country has overlooked them in the past in national energy policies. However, in recent years, renewable energy has become a part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s energy conservation policy due to climate changes, technological progress, economies of scale, and increased competitiveness in supply chains. The Saudi government has created the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) to develop national strategies for effectively utilizing renewable and nuclear energy. This paper reviews the current state of the art of the renewable energy technologies available on the market and evaluates the installation of renewable energy plants near Saudi Arabia’s East Coast for a new town, focusing on technical rather than economic aspects. The paper provides a wide review of the possible technical solutions to exploit the producibility of different renewable sources, considering the challenging climate conditions typical of desert areas. The analysis of a real case study shows a high availability of wind and solar irradiance that allow a net energy production of 354 and 129 GWh, respectively. In addition, the comparison between a typical ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) system and an emerging floating PV reveals that for the same installed power, occupied area, and environmental conditions, the latter has a 4% greater performance ratio due to the cooling effect of water.

Keywords: renewable energy sources; Saudi Arabia; wind farm; ground-mounted photovoltaic plant; floating photovoltaic plant; concentrated solar plant; grid-connected system; hybrid system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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