RIYADH: Demand for domestic electricity in Saudi Arabia is expected to increase three-fold from 43GW recorded in 2010 to more than 120GW in the next 20 years, says Dr. Khalid Al-Sulaiman, Vice-President, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy. Dr. Al-Sulaiman was speaking at the 3rd Saudi Solar Energy Forum – Towards a Sustainable Energy Mix for Saudi Arabia that kicked off in Riyadh, Sunday. King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE) is hosting the event in coordination with Apricum – The Cleantech Advisory, a German-headquartered strategic management consultancy. In his keynote address, Dr. Al-Sulaiman said to meet the rising energy demand and to maintain long-term economic prosperity, it is important for the Kingdom to increase its power generating capacity while reducing the amount of fossil fuels used to produce electricity. “The use of alternative sustainable and reliable resources (of energy) reduces dependency on hydrocarbons and keep them as a source for income for future generations,” said Dr. Sulaiman. The hosting of the forum is part of the Kingdom's efforts to explore ways and means for the development of sustainable and alternative energy. About 800 people from the public and the private sector, investors and representatives from leading international energy firms are attending the forum. The forum's basic agenda is to discuss ways to use solar energy to help diversify the Kingdom's energy mix and create a solar value chain that includes local manufacturing, technology development and job creation. The participants at the forum shared experiences, lessons learned and the best practices for developing solar energy projects in the Kingdom. The World Bank Group will organize a workshop on renewable energy financing mechanisms Monday. The goal of the workshop is to review different financing approaches that have been used globally and discuss how they can be applied within the Kingdom. Established in 2010 KA-CARE's mandate is to achieve sustainable, alternative energy development to meet the country's rapidly growing energy needs. The abundance of sunlight and land in Saudi Arabia, solar energy can play an important role in providing power and establishing a vibrant new industry. Besides, KA-CARE would provide the framework for renewable energy power generation, to focus on public sector activities for creating employment opportunities through the -establishment of local manufacturing units within the solar value chain.
