According to the Ministry of Energy, Saudi Arabia has started leading the world in renewable energy production, as indicated by the growth indicator. This achievement comes only two years after the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) was launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Compared to the previous year, Saudi Arabia has advanced 10 places in the Green Future Index, a comparative ranking of 76 countries that’s issued by MIT Technology Review the measures their abilities to develop a sustainable, low-carbon future, and are pivoting towards clean energy through innovation. The report highlighted the country’s progress under the SGI initiatives and took into account Saudi Arabia’s future investments in clean industries. In addition, the index shows that the kingdom has come first in the Arab world by the Carbon Emissions indicator, and 19th globally.
Saudi Arabia’s is constructing the world’s largest clean hydrogen production hub
Per SGI initiatives, the country was able to launch 17renewable energy projects with the capacity of 13.76 gigawatts to save the equivalence of about 23.1 million tons of CO2 annually. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has invested in the construction of the world’s largest clean hydrogen production hub, expected to output up to 600 tons per day of carbon free hydrogen in the form of green ammonia by 2026. The SGI initiatives were also influential in launching the first phase of the largest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) hub in the world, to be constructed in Jubail, and designed to capture 9 million tons annually, with potential to reach 44 million tons per annum by 2035.
In accordance with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 sustainability goals, the SGI, and the region-involving Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), were launched in 2021 to propel the country’s environmental, energy transition and sustainability programs, aiming to offset and reduce emissions, adopting the kingdom’s clean energy use, and tackling immediate, and predicted, climate change hallenges.
Saudi Arabia becomes first in clean energy production two years post Saudi Green Initiative
The initiative has allocated an investment of $186bn (SAR698bn) for its first phase to achieve its three main goals: emissions reduction, afforestation, and land and sea protection. Of the 77 activated initiatives, the SGI included reducing CO2 emissions by 278 million tons annually by 2030, planting more than 450 million trees, restoring 8 million hectares of degraded land and creating new protected areas. It also included the Kingdom’s intention to join key global alliances, such as the Global Oceans Alliance, the Global Methane Pledge, the Alliance to Eliminate Plastic Waste in Oceans and Beaches and the Sports for Climate Action Agreement, among others.
