Saudi Arabia targets 41GW solar by 2032, China to beat 10GW/year by Giles Parkinson

As the Australian government struggles with its Solar Flagships program, te world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, has unveiled an ambitious solar deployment.

At the Saudi Solar forum this week, officials from King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, the agency responsible for alternative energy, announced a program to generate 41GW of electricity capacity from solar by 2032 – a run rate of 2GW a year over the next two decades.

Interestingly, Saudi Arabia sees a greater role for solar thermal, and plans 25GW of concentrating solar power (solar thermal), as opposed to 16GW of solar PV. Extensive wind, geothermal, waste-to-energy and nuclear options investments will also be announced.