Saudi Arabia's renewable energy sector will be one of the main generators of jobs in the Kingdom for the next decade, according to recent estimates.
The Saudi-US Business Council expected that the current level of investments in the renewable energy sector in Saudi Arabia would create about 75,000 jobs over the next 10 years, stressing at the same time that the sector would become one of the important catalysts in developing the capabilities of Saudi competencies.
In a recent report, the Council cited the efforts exerted by the Kingdom to localize its industrial base as the main generator of job opportunities, as part of its endeavor to localize the sector by around 45 percent by 2028.
The renewable energy sector is expected to provide many job opportunities, being one of the broader goals of Saudi Vision 2030, said Albaraa Alwazir, the Council’s chief economist.
The abundance of solar energy and exposure to winds will allow the Kingdom to become a regional leader in renewable energy, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
According to the report, the list of measures that will enable the Kingdom to become a global leader in the renewable energy sector includes facing the strong demand for electricity, the desire to diversify local energy sources, the need to enhance the efficiency of the sector, the low cost of alternative energy sources, in addition to the abundance of solar energy throughout the country.
Based on the Saudi-American Business Council estimates, the total renewable energy capacity in the Kingdom will increase to 5.3 gigawatts by 2030, which represents 7 percent of the country’s total electricity output, which is likely to reach 102 gigawatts, while solar energy is expected to represent 77 percent of all renewable energy sources by the same year.
