The academia, under the patronage of King Abdullah, have stepped up their drive to make Saudi Arabia a hub for sustainable energy, according to an active environmental advocate.

“Today the world is facing the two prime crises— water and energy. Although at the moment Saudi Arabia is rich in oil energy, it has a vision to develop renewable energy resources as well,” Mirza Barjees Baig, a Canadian professor at King Saud University (KSU), department of agricultural extension and rural society, told Arab News on Sunday.

He said the world still relies heavily on the Kingdom, the largest producer of oil and gas reserves in the world. Even so, the Saudi government attaches great importance to developing alternative energy resources to meet energy needs in the future.

“Future demand for electricity and water in Saudi Arabia is set to grow owing to a rapidly-growing population, increasing urbanization and swift industrialization,” Baig added.

The population of Saudi Arabia is growing, which in turn, increases the demand for energy and power,” he said, noting, “To meet these needs, it would be wise to use renewable and sustainable energy systems and this will require far more complex, networked, and flexible structures than they have today — from sustainable energy generation to a reliable power supply, to efficient operation to ensure energy conservation.”

He continued: “Efforts are under way to develop energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal and energy from waste. However, solar energy will be the most promising future source of energy.”

It has been estimated that renewable energy resources amounting to 41 GW would be generated from solar power. The Kingdom is aiming to generate 18 GW of nuclear energy, 3 GW of waste to energy, 1 GW of geothermal and an additional 9 GW of wind power, specifically for water desalination plants.

By 2032, the Kingdom is expected to meet one-third of its energy demands through renewable energy resources. Citing the country’s pilot initiative to meet its ambitious program, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) has been established and embarked on a national project to conduct research on various sources of renewable energy in the Kingdom.

The city is working on a program to monitor and measure the sources of renewable energy. The projects are aiming to recruit 95 percent of its workforce from the Saudi youth as part of a long-term nationalization plan.

Renewable energy technologies would be utilized for the production of electricity and water desalination, and would ensure a clean environment and better climate in different regions of the country, he said. The Kingdom has also drawn up plans to serve universities, research centers and project developers. It is expected that least at 100 monitoring stations will be set up in various parts of the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia aims at becoming the world’s major market for renewable energy with an aggressive investment budget pegged at $109 billion.

KACARE has encouraged businessmen to invest in the Kingdom’s promising energy schemes. Efforts are needed to introduce RVC and its initiatives aim to develop an energy ecosystem in the country, said Baig.