Mohammed Ali Trabulsi, Saudi Aramco’s executive director of pipelines, distribution and terminals, explained his ideas on Sunday as part of a renewable energy lecture series at the Movenpick Hotel. The lecture series was organized by the Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Trabulsi noted that Saudi Arabia’s domestic demand for energy was increasing as the population increased. The growing demand for hydrocarbon-fed generation systems will eventually adversely impact the nation’s oil exports, which now account for a large part of the Kingdom’s GDP.
“The demand on utilities in the Kingdom has significantly increased,” Trabulsi said. “Underlying this growth are two drivers — residential end-use energy requirements and industrialization. On the residential side, the combination of high population growth, a young population, and a rising standard of living, has led to a substantial increase in the demand for housing and subsequently an increasing need for more electricity and water.”
He said if current trends were projected in the long term, the results were disturbing. “To give you a broader perspective, electricity consumption has increased at a rapid pace since the 1990s, driven by population growth and the expansion of economic activity,” he said. “The residential sector accounted for about 53 percent of total electricity demand and growth rates were recorded last year at 8 percent. If this trend continues unchanged, our energy demand will increase over the next 25 years to approximately 120,000 MW — almost triple the current levels.”
Trabulsi said the establishment of the King Abdullah Nuclear and Renewable Energy City demonstrated the strategic importance of preserving the hydrocarbon energy stream as an export revenue source and pointed to three areas vital to successful development.
“The first is new technology in renewable energy. We need to pursue new energy technologies and develop the industries that are most economic for Saudi Arabia’s climatic and geographical locations,” he said. “The second is to collectively engage research institutions, industries and government entities to streamline and establish the needed policies for the development of renewable energy sources on a national scale. Third, and most importantly, a major effort is needed in order to develop our own human resources and build the knowledge, skills and experience of our professionals to help in creating a new energy era for the Kingdom.”
Trabulsi expressed optimism that the Kingdom was taking the right steps for a bright future.
“My dream is that when my children are my age, every home in the Kingdom will have solar panels for powering their appliances. People will use mass transit to go to work. Solar and wind mills will power utilities, and our nation’s solar power grid will be joined to an electricity network connecting the Middle East with Europe and Asia, so that sunny days in the Rub Al-Khali will power air conditioners in Riyadh and other parts of the world,” Trabulsi said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Ali Sayigh, director general of the UK-based World Renewable Energy Network, agreed that the King Abdullah Nuclear and Renewable Energy City held great promise. “This is the most powerful indication that Saudi Arabia is very keen to tap into alternate sources of energy,” said Sayigh. “The Kingdom burns 1.2 million barrels of oil every day to generate electricity and produce water. Some of this could be stopped through renewable energy. This would lead to a cleaner environment in the Kingdom.”