Driver Trett Digest Issue 22 October 2021 - Flipbook - Page 17
DIGEST | ISSUE 22
Mark Rocca, Partner
CMS (UAE LLP)
AND THEIR
CONTRIBUTION TO
THE COUNTRY’S
VISION 2030 PLANS
Despite the impact of COVID-19 which resulted in the
Kingdom’s borders being closed for many months,
the drive for progressing the programmes set out in
the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 continues, and not least in
encouraging private sector investment in public sector
assets. KSA PPPs are active.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
The Kingdom, as with other Gulf Cooperation Council states,
has set itself ambitious targets for green energy usage.
The targets set out in Vision 2030, which were re-affirmed
earlier this year, are that 50% of the Kingdom’s electricity
usage will come from green energy sources by 2030.
Naturally, considering the solar insolation ratings in the
Kingdom, there is a particular focus on solar as a means to
generate green energy. The Kingdom is clearly serious about
these targets, as demonstrated by the Ministry of Energy’s
renewable energy programme which is into its third round
of procurement and has involved procurement of large and
small solar independent power projects (IPPs) across the
Kingdom, focusing on locations where the electricity can be
generated and distributed over short distances to where it is
needed.
Round one saw the procurement of two solar IPPs with a
combined capacity of 700MW, and in 2019 round two was
launched consisting of six solar IPPs ranging from 20MW
to 600MW with a combined 1.4GW. Whilst round two was
underway, round three was also launched consisting of four
solar IPPs with a combined capacity of 1.2GW. So, since 2017,
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