From Oil to Solar: Saudi Arabia Plots a Shift to Renewables<br />Paddy Padmanathan, the chief executive of ACWA Power, which also has other energy projects in the region, predicted in an interview last month<br />that once the country’s energy authorities became comfortable with renewables, they would ramp up their goals for wind and solar power production.<br />Riyadh on Monday tapped ACWA Power, a Saudi energy company, to build a solar farm that would generate enough electricity to power up to 200,000 homes.<br />"That is why they are doing it." A big push into wind<br />and solar power would also have other benefits, notably allowing Saudi Arabia to sell more of its oil.<br />Attracting investment into what is essentially a nonexistent sector in the kingdom, Mr. Shehri said, would mean "creating jobs, creating manufacturing." Still, despite the ambitious goals<br />and positive language, the process by which Saudi Arabia has looked to expand its wind and solar capacity has raised concerns.<br />At 2 to 3 cents per kilowatt-hour, a wholesale measure of electricity, solar power here<br />would be below the cost of fossil fuel-generated electricity, Mr. Shehri said.<br />Still, the experiment with solar power has been an important catalyst, and the company built a team of experts in renewable power.
