\n \u201cThere is a solar boom, no one can deny that,\u201d said Nishant Kumar, renewable and power analyst at the research firm Rystad Energy. Saudi Arabia has pledged to generate 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and the race is on to meet it.\n <\/p>\n
\n At first glance, it may seem an unlikely reinvention; this is oil country after all. Saudi Arabia boasts the world\u2019s second-largest oil reserves, is the largest oil exporter and has consistently pushed back<\/a> against global efforts to move away from fossil fuels. But what\u2019s happening here shows even the planet\u2019s ultimate petrostate is making a bet on clean energy \u2014 just as the Trump administration seeks to strangle it.\n <\/p>\n \n The pace of Saudi Arabia\u2019s solar boom has been breathtaking. \u201cNo country is going faster,\u201d said Dave Jones, co-founder of the climate think tank Ember.\n <\/p>\n \n In 2020, the country had next to no renewables. By the end of this year, it\u2019s predicted to have 12 gigawatts of solar, Kumar told CNN. Saudi Arabia has added so much in 2025 that it\u2019s broken into the top 10 global markets for annual new solar for the first time, according to BloombergNEF data.\n <\/p>\n \n The boom shows no signs of slowing. ACWA Power, the country\u2019s utilities giant, which jointly owns the Al Shuaibah complex, announced in July \u2014 along with companies including state-owned oil and gas firm Saudi Aramco \u2014 an investment of $8.3 billion<\/a> into 15 gigawatts of renewables, dominated by solar.\n <\/p>\n \n By 2030 solar will be growing \u201cat a very fast pace,\u201d Kumar said. Rystad projects more than 70 gigawatts will be installed by the end of the decade. \u201cOn top of that, they\u2019re installing onshore wind as well,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n \n There are plans to power huge infrastructure developments<\/a> with clean energy, including the $500 billion futuristic city of NEOM<\/a> and a luxury Red Sea tourism<\/a> project.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s a striking move for a country built on oil. \u201cBlack gold\u201d funded Saudi Arabia\u2019s transition from nomadic desert country to a significant global power in just decades.\n <\/p>\n \n But experts say its solar surge makes sense for several reasons, one of the biggest being economics. Simply put: it\u2019s cheap.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cSolar is so cost competitive, it makes financial sense,\u201d said Karen Young, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. This is especially true given the accelerating electricity demand in the kingdom, driven by cooling needs and water desalination.\n <\/p>\n \n Costs of solar have plummeted thanks to a flood of cheap Chinese-made solar panels into the market. The last two years have seen \u201cjust unprecedentedly low prices,\u201d Ember\u2019s Jones said. Battery costs have fallen, too, with average prices dropping by 40%<\/a> in 2024 alone, according to Ember. Batteries make solar, which is otherwise only available when the sun shines, more flexible and even more attractive.\n <\/p>\n \n And solar suits Saudi Arabia: The sun reliably shines throughout most of the year, it has cheap and plentiful land, and grid connection is inexpensive, as there is space for huge solar farms near big cities, Jones said.\n <\/p>\n \n The country also benefits from economies of scale. \u201cAll of their installations are vast\u201d allowing them to negotiate down equipment and construction costs, said Abdullah Alkattan, Middle East and North Africa energy transition analyst at BloombergNEF.\n <\/p>\n \n Another key reason for Saudi Arabia\u2019s renewables push, experts say, is to displace oil from electricity generation at home \u2014 and instead sell it overseas.\n <\/p>\n \n Under its Vision 2030 strategy, aimed at diversifying its economy away from reliance on oil, Saudi Arabia pledged to source 50% of its electricity from clean energy and 50% from gas by the end of this decade.\n <\/p>\n \n There are big economic drivers for this. Burning oil domestically is inefficient and taking it out of the electricity mix frees it up to be sold on global markets, Alkattan said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the profit is.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n This doesn\u2019t mean climate considerations are absent from the country\u2019s clean energy policies, Alkattan added. \u201cTo argue that \u201850% renewables, 50% gas\u2019 is the cheapest electricity system available to Saudi Arabia is false,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is part of the Saudi green initiative.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Some experts, however, urge caution about the extent of Saudi\u2019s solar ambitions. \u201cIt is significant in the sense that they were doing absolutely nothing\u2026 and then in the last couple of years, you could really see a shift,\u201d said Ana Missirliu, a climate policy analyst at Climate Action Tracker, which monitors governments\u2019 climate policies. \u201cBut I would say, compared to what\u2019s needed, it\u2019s really still very, very insufficient,\u201d she told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Saudi Arabia\u2019s overall climate policies and action are rated \u201ccritically insufficient<\/a>\u201d by CAT. Renewables only made up around 2% of Saudi Arabia\u2019s electricity mix at the end of 2024, Missirliu said. Large amounts have been added through 2025 but she believes the 2030 target is far from feasible.\n <\/p>\n \n Others take a more optimistic view. Rystad projections show Saudi Arabia is on track to get more than a third of its electricity from renewables by 2030 and that its 50% goal will be achievable a few years later.\n <\/p>\n \n Saudi\u2019s solar aspirations can still send a message, regardless of whether the renewables goal is met, Missirliu said. \u201cEven a petrostate like Saudi Arabia knows and recognizes that renewables are unavoidable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s a striking contrast to what\u2019s currently happening in the US, where the Trump administration is trying to strangle solar<\/a> and wind projects<\/a> in the name of \u201cenergy dominance,\u201d a strategy that is shorthand for ramping up fossil fuels only.\n <\/p>\n \n Saudi Arabia\u2019s approach is \u201ctruly an \u2018all of the above\u2019 energy strategy, which is where (it) is actually more engaged on clean tech and renewables than the US (is now),\u201d Columbia University\u2019s Young said. The country is also interested in developing a domestic solar manufacturing supply chain, including battery storage, and producing electric vehicles, she added.\n <\/p>\n \n This attraction to clean energy isn\u2019t just a Saudi phenomenon. Other Middle East countries are building out renewables, including the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Even Iran, another major petrostate with huge oil and gas reserves, is turning to solar in an attempt to navigate power crunches linked to aging infrastructure, mismanagement and sanctions.\n <\/p>\n \n None of this signals the end of the fossil fuel era, however, not least in Saudi Arabia. There might be a solar surge, but the country remains a petrostate.\n <\/p>\n \n Saudi Arabia is still planning to get 50% of its electricity from planet-heating natural gas, for example, \u201cso we are seeing a surge in gas capacity,\u201d Kumar said. Power consumption in the kingdom is also increasing so quickly that even with the rush of renewables, it\u2019s not yet displacing large amounts of fossil fuels, he added.\n <\/p>\n![\"Arrays](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/h-16214207.jpg\")
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