26 August 2013
RIYADH -- The first phase of the King Abdullah Initiative for Solar Water Desalination will be operational by the end of this year, according to a senior energy official.
Yousef Al-Yousef, supervisor at the Energy Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), said the plant would have a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters of drinking water a day to meet the needs of 100,000 people living in the town of Al-Khafji, near the Kuwaiti border.
He said the first phase of the project started in 2010 and involved the production of 10 megawatts of solar energy and reverse-osmosis membranes over a period of three years, Alsharq newspaper reported.
As part of the project, two solar energy plants were constructed in Al-Khafji and in the solar village at Al-Oyainah, located 35 km from Riyadh.
The second phase of the initiative, which aims to develop a solar desalination plant with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters a day, will take three years to finish.
The third phase will involve the construction of several plants for solar desalination in all parts of the Kingdom, he said.
Referring to the Al-Khafji project, Al-Yousef said a plant for manufacturing solar panels was opened in late 2010 and started producing an annual capacity of three megawatts.
The plant's total annual capacity has now been raised to 12 megawatts.
"The solar power produced from the plant is eco-friendly and will help reduce carbon emissions, and that enabled it to win the ISO 9001-2008 certificate from the German company TUV."
Al-Yousef said Saudi Arabia is making investments in alternative energy fields, of which solar energy is considered the most significant source of renewable and clean energy that does not have any negative impact on either the environment or public health.
Solar energy can be made available at cheaper rates, in addition to generating more employment opportunities for Saudis and drawing more foreign investments.
Saudi Arabia receives around 2,000 kilowatts of sunlight for each square meter a year.
The Kingdom is also regarded as one of the six best locations in the world for producing solar energy.
Al-Yousef said KACST is working on developing solar energy and supporting projects suitable for the Kingdom's environment to reduce dependence on traditional energy sources such as crude oil and natural gas, besides supporting the Kingdom's efforts to contain carbon emissions worldwide.
RIYADH -- The first phase of the King Abdullah Initiative for Solar Water Desalination will be operational by the end of this year, according to a senior energy official.
Yousef Al-Yousef, supervisor at the Energy Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), said the plant would have a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters of drinking water a day to meet the needs of 100,000 people living in the town of Al-Khafji, near the Kuwaiti border.
He said the first phase of the project started in 2010 and involved the production of 10 megawatts of solar energy and reverse-osmosis membranes over a period of three years, Alsharq newspaper reported.
As part of the project, two solar energy plants were constructed in Al-Khafji and in the solar village at Al-Oyainah, located 35 km from Riyadh.
The second phase of the initiative, which aims to develop a solar desalination plant with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters a day, will take three years to finish.
The third phase will involve the construction of several plants for solar desalination in all parts of the Kingdom, he said.
Referring to the Al-Khafji project, Al-Yousef said a plant for manufacturing solar panels was opened in late 2010 and started producing an annual capacity of three megawatts.
The plant's total annual capacity has now been raised to 12 megawatts.
"The solar power produced from the plant is eco-friendly and will help reduce carbon emissions, and that enabled it to win the ISO 9001-2008 certificate from the German company TUV."
Al-Yousef said Saudi Arabia is making investments in alternative energy fields, of which solar energy is considered the most significant source of renewable and clean energy that does not have any negative impact on either the environment or public health.
Solar energy can be made available at cheaper rates, in addition to generating more employment opportunities for Saudis and drawing more foreign investments.
Saudi Arabia receives around 2,000 kilowatts of sunlight for each square meter a year.
The Kingdom is also regarded as one of the six best locations in the world for producing solar energy.
Al-Yousef said KACST is working on developing solar energy and supporting projects suitable for the Kingdom's environment to reduce dependence on traditional energy sources such as crude oil and natural gas, besides supporting the Kingdom's efforts to contain carbon emissions worldwide.
© The Saudi Gazette 2013
