Saudi Arabia to identify renewable energy project sites via ‘unprecedented’ geographical survey

June 26, 2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Solar panels in Saudi Arabia.
The scale of the project is described as “unprecedented” by the Saudi Arabia government. Credit: Arctech

Saudi Arabia has launched a geographical survey project to identify suitable sites for renewables projects across the nation.

Saudi Arabia energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said the project will help identify the best sites in terms of the size of renewable energy resources, for developing renewables projects in the country and the priority of developing these projects.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The project will survey all regions of Saudi Arabia with a combined area of over 850,000 square kilometres, excluding populated and airspace-restricted areas and sand dunes. The scale of the project, as part of Saudi Arabia’s National Renewable Energy Programme, is “globally unprecedented”, according to the minister.

A total of 1,200 stations will be installed for measuring solar and wind energy. In the first phase of the project, the stations will survey the designated area spreading into all regions of Saudi Arabia to identify suitable sites for renewables projects. Subsequently, the project’s stations will be moved to these sites and installed there to continuously provide all required yet accurate data for implementing renewables projects.

The solar energy measurement stations, equipped with “advanced measurement devices” at ground level, will record direct normal irradiance, global horizontal irradiance, diffuse horizontal irradiance, dust and pollutant deposition rates, ground-reflected radiation, ambient temperature, rainfall levels, relative humidity and atmospheric pressure.

Artificial intelligence systems will be used in the project to assess and rank sites based on their suitability for renewables projects. The project can also help eliminate the current waiting period of 18-24 months to obtain data, hastening the process of the allocation of land lots.

Additionally, the energy minister also said Saudi Arabia will tender new renewables projects with a capacity of 20GW annually starting from 2024, aiming to reach between 100GW and 130GW by 2030, depending on electricity demand growth.

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia unveiled the qualified bidders for the fifth round of 3.7GW solar projects under the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) in Saudi Arabia, including several major renewables developers. In an announcement published by the Saudi Press Agency, the SPPC announced that Masdar, EDF Renouvelables, Itochu Corporation, Total Energies Renewables, and Saudi Electricity Company were among the companies that won bids.

The biggest project offered in this round is Al Sadawi with a capacity of 2GWac, located in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Read Next

October 21, 2025
Australia's solar-plus-storage sector gained momentum with 725MW of solar PV approvals advancing across New South Wales and Queensland.
October 21, 2025
Luminous Robotics has successfully completed its first international deployment of AI-powered solar installation robots at Engie’s 250MW Goorambat East Solar Farm in Victoria, Australia.
October 21, 2025
An independent panel has granted resource consents for the 179MW Glorit Solar Farm in Auckland, New Zealand.
October 20, 2025
Details of tariffs on US imports of polysilicon products may be announced as early as the end of this month, according to a note from investment bank Roth Capital.
October 17, 2025
Norwegian renewable energy firm Scatec has signed lease agreements for 64MW of solar PV and 10MWh of energy storage capacity in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
October 17, 2025
A group of over 20 US states are suing the Trump administration for the cancellation of the US$7 billion Solar For All Scheme.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK