Hoe effective has the implementation of solar energy by the Saudi Arabian government and Saudi Arabian private sector been as a growth strategy?

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How effective has the implementation of solar energy by the Saudi Arabian government and Saudi Arabian private sector been as a growth strategy
Abstract
Saudi Arabia has consistently experienced the rise in demand for electricity for both commercial and domestic purpose. For this reason, the realms for meeting the rising need for electricity have to be expanded and diversified. With the current concern about environmental and health safety and use of renewable energy sources, Saudi Arabia is progressively adopting and strategically implementing the use of solar energy. “The use of solar energy is a vision 2032 and is a sustainable source as compared to utilization of fossil fuel that will decline with time from the natural reserves” (Maverick para 7). Saudi Arabia although being one of the global oil-producing giant, a quarter of its production is used domestically which seems to be an extravagance and an economic loss, “the spending has been estimated to have been rising at the rate of 7% per annum” as shown in (Almasoud and Gandy para 14). “It’s a small nation with approximately 3o million people but is rated 6th globally among countries that consume the highest volume of oil products” as indicated in (Ball para7).The production of electricity by the use of oil have not been efficient considering the inefficient systems, with air conditioners that use 70% of the electricity produced (Maverick para 3). The use of solar energy will help save Saudi Arabia to save on expensive production of electricity.

The Saudi government need to set a clear timeline in order to realize the deliverables of the multi-billion project. The location of Saudi Arabia on the Sun Belt make the implementation of the project efficient. The country has two thirds of its population being under thirty years. They are an educated generation who have given the project a positive review. Ultimately, the solar panel project will help solve the energy problem that Saudi Arabia has been tackling.
Tables of Contents
Abstract ………………………………………….1Introduction ………………………………………3Research Questions……………………………….3Procedure or Method …………………………….4Main Findings and results ……………………….5Analysis and discussion …………………………6
Conclusions …………………………………….8
Recommendations ………………………………9
Work cited………………………………………10
Introduction
“Saudi Arabian population is rapidly growing, and this affects the trends of electric consumption’ as shown in (Almasoud, and Gandayh para 1). Electricity generation by the use of oil although it is conveniently accessible in Saudi Arabia, it is expensive since little benefit are incurred than losses. With the global commitment of all nation to use energy sources that do not pollute the environment, the “adoption of eco-friendly forms of energy can help Saudi Arabia realize this milestone and subsequently promote the health of Saudi Arabians” (Almasoud, and Gandayh para 11). In the business contextual analysis, the cost of solar energy has significantly decreased in past three decades. “The prices have dropped form approximately 90 ¢/kWh to around 20 ¢/kWh.” (Almasoud, and Gandayh para 12). Saudi Arabia is considered the largest oil exporter by still is among the largest importer of renewable sources of energy (KSA para 1. The implementation of the solar energy plan to generate electricity will ensure that Saudi Arabia saves funds to implement other national projects. A certain time is required for the project to launch successfully as indicated in( KSA para 16)
Research Question
The research question will enable the study to be focused on the problem that the paper intends to explore. The paper will be guided by the following three questions;
I. What has necessitated the adoption of the solar energy?
II. Is the production of electricity not efficient when using oil?
III. Is solar energy more eco-friendly than the use of fossil fuels for power generation?
Procedure or Method
The research method utilized the quantitative data from recent peer-reviewed article one from the Saudi king university. The other secondary sources uses include the Wall Street publication, which focused on the rate and prices that the Saudi nation is spending on electricity. The method included an assessment of the private second like the “ACWA Power, which works with the private sector. The private company supplies energy from the solar harnessing, it supplies water and have employed more than 2000 workers” (Hakim Para 12). It has not received any assistance from the government to realize its objectives. This is among the motivations that the Saudi government has considered seeing the electricity from solar energy as a reality. The methodology also focused on the trends of electric consumption among the Saudi Arabian population, to determine whether the source is sufficient. The methodology also focused on global oil prices to see whether there will be a sustainable future, considering that Saudi Arabia relies on the conventional source of energy. The methodology also focused on various countries across the world like German, which is the leading producer of electricity using the solar harnessing system. To ascertain the energy needs, the methodology focused on the Saudi population growth rate that assist in the projections for future energy need. So that the electricity obtained from the solar will not be constructed based on an outdated number of population. For instance,” in 1960 Riyadh a metropolitan hosted 150’000 persons but the figure has risen to more than 5 million” (Hakim Para 14).

Findings and results
“Saudi Arabia is a young nation, with two third of the people being age below thirty years, they are dynamic, and this attitude allows them to be excited about the electricity harnessing diversification program as shown in (Hakim Para 17). They are quick in embracing the idea of going green since they have been educated, and the value of eco-friendly sources of energy makes sense to them. By 2032, Saudi Arabia will be able to meet a third of electricity need by harnessing solar energy and other renewable sources as shown in (KSA para 3).
With the increasing population and the current consumption rate of oil in Saudi Arabia, it was indicated in a report by a British Chatham House that the oil reserves by 2038 will not be available for export but only to meet domestic oil needs (Ball para 8). The implementation of the solar energy program is vital considering that most of the plants in Saudi Arabia are old, and instead their air conditioning systems consume more electricity than it consumes. The system produces only 30 percent of the electricity it is supposed to generate while it consumes the rest as shown in (Maverick para 3). The Saudi choice to install solar panels to diversify her energy sources have been conveniently met by a “dropping of the price of the solar panels across the world” as shown in (Maverick para 12).
Analysis and discussion
With the current situation of spending oil and oil product and the cost of electric production, Saudi Arabia has aggressively dedicated an investment to generate around 41gigawatts of electricity. The production will be realized by 2032 that will make Saudi Arabia not only the giant oil exporter globally but also solar energy producer as shown in (Maverick para 9). Currently, German is the leading producer, and the Saudi government is in the quest of turning those tables. Burning fossil fuels leads to environmental pollution by the production of poisonous compounds of carbon and sulfur like carbon (ii) oxide and sulfur (IV) oxide respectively as shown in (Almasoud and Gandayh para 2). The investment in solar energy in Saudi Arabia have been existent for over the past have a century and has been growing. To facilitate the utilization of solar and other renewable sources of energy various research institutions and university like King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology and King Fahd University have been furthering the research and training students to be more innovative as indicated in (Almasoud and Gandayh para 5).
For the vision 2032 concerning the largest project on earth for electricity from solar energy, the Saudi Arabian government has set aside $109 billion. The first solar power plant in Saudi Arabia was commissioned four years ago; the project was set to be launched in Farasan Island as shown in (KSA para 8). Saudi Arabia relies on the conventional source of energy, for instance, most of the countries used to produce electricity using oil. Currently, most of them are using hydropower, wind power and others. Saudi Arabia gets 50 % of it electricity from the burning of petroleum. This is convenient, but it will straining it economy in years to come. For this reason, the Saudi Arabian government is required to set realistic timelines for the project implantation as shown in (KSA para 11). The oil in Saudi Arabia has kept the political stability in the country stable by providing Saudi people with extensive social services that have been funded by the oil trade. Being oil producing giant they have a special stage in the global business for oil and oil product. They control the oil prices across the world, using the oil with a plan will render their reserve valueless and hence lose their position in the oil business as shown in (Ball para 9. They raise the prices high to levels they want to provide her citizens with what they should have. They also, on the other hand, keep the price low enough to ensure their competitors does not shine them in business. For Saudi Arabia to maintain that political power and economic supremacy the solution is to get an alternative source of electricity which will not require the use of oil. The project is intended to solve the problem. With this project, the Saudi government is not only interested in using locally the solar panels for generating electric current but also to export them to foreign countries like the USA.
Another move by the Saudi Arabian government to control the use of oil is by instituting new fuel economy standards. The government made stringent policies on an installation of efficient conditioners in plants to ensure that they do not spend all the electricity they produce. The new power stations being constructed are meant to be more efficient on how it consumes electricity. March 2015 the government signed a business deal with the South Koreans to build a nuclear reactor plant to make the source of energy more diversified as shown in (Ball para 26).
Currently, the population of Saudi Arabia is 30 million; it is projected that it will grow to 34 million by 2020. This means the demand for electricity and other sources of energy with the proportionate increase. On sunny days, the use of power is high since most places are using the air conditioner as shown in (Almasoud and Gandayh para 15). With such information, the Saudi government has planned to launch the mega project to cover for current and future need for electricity for use both domestically and on a commercial basis. This project one its running would be self-sustaining. The cost of producing energy from a renewable is cheap as compared with the use of oil for the same purpose. Middle East countries receive high solar radiations, and Saudi Arabia is one of them. The region with high solar radiations benefits a lot when they apply solar panels to tap electric current. The production is cheaper since some of the effects of externalities are few or non I most of the time. The system is eco-friendly and no threat to public health as shown in (Almasoud and Gandayh para 9. Saudi Arabia is already in the Sun Belt region, and it will not pose a challenge in an installation of the planned. Most of the regions are barred to their location, and Saudi is the advantage of its continental location.
Conclusions
The harnessing of energy using solar panels to generate electricity in Saudi Arabia is crucial due to unstable oil prices across the world. The use current trends of oil use in Saudi Arabia poses a future political and economic threat for the Saudi Arabians. The country produces 50% of the electricity it consumes by burning fossil fuel. There is an ongoing global campaign for the application of renewable sources of energy. The harnessing of solar power is the major target for most nations. The use of solar energy will ensure that pollution is environment is minimized as the use of green energy sources is being promoted. Solar energy is a system that once it has been installed it will sustain itself. The production of electricity using solar energy or any other renewable source of energy is cheaper ass compared to the use of fossil fuels. The substantial investment of $ 109 billion is to ensure that the project to launch the solar power plant in Saudi Arabia is successful. The project is going to be the biggest in all the world since it’s estimated to produce more energy than the largest plant in German produces. The plant will supply about 41 giga watts of electricity. The location of Saudi Arabia makes it convenient to launch the project since it lies on the Sun Belt. The terrain allows the installation of solar panels since is does not experience so much sand dunes and other related dust problems that would prevent the panels from getting the proper solar radiations.
Recommendations
Since the project is a massive one, it requires time and planning to ensure each step moves in order as outlined. Since the use of solar energy in Saudi Arabia started in the 1960s, it is certain that it is not the primary source of electricity meaning the project was not as effective as intended. To avoid such failure in this mulch- billion project, they should be assessed to be established the reason they are not effective leaving it to oil to produce 50 % of the used electricity. Learning from the past experiences will help prepare for the future. The country should ensure the policies to install efficient low power air conditioners are implemented. The establishment of timelines to ensure the project runs swiftly should be emphasized.
Work cited
Almasoud, A., and Hatim Gandayh. “Future of Solar Energy in Saudi Arabia.” Future of Solar Energy in Saudi Arabia. Scince Direct, 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
BALL, JEFFREY. “Why the Saudis Are Going Solar.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, July 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/07/saudis-solar-energy/395315/>.
Hakim, Ali. “Saudi Arabia And The Quest For Solar Power.” Benzinga. Benzinga, 26 July 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
“KSA Aims to Become Leading Renewable Energy Market.” KSA Aims to Become Leading Renewable Energy Market. Arab News, 25 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.
Maverick, Tim. “Saudi Arabia: Oil Kingdom Becoming Solar Powerhouse.” Wall Street Daily. Wall Street, 13 July 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.