Saudi Arabia making $30-50 billion investment into renewable energy by 2023

Saudi Arabia will launch a renewable energy program in coming weeks that is expected to involve investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023 They will start the first round of bidding within weeks for projects under the program, which would produce 10 gigawatts of power.

Riyadh is in the early stages of feasibility and design studies for its first two commercial nuclear reactors, which will total 2.8 gigawatts, Falih said.
“There will be significant investment in nuclear energy,” Falih said on Monday.

Last year, Falih met with China’s leading state nuclear project developer China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) to discuss cooperation in the nuclear power sector.

Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy investment would be about twenty times less than China’s plan.

China had previously stated they would invest 2.5 trillion yuan ($361 billion) into renewable power (which includes hydro, tidal, geothermal as well as wind and solar generation by 2020. This would likely continue to 2023 at a similar rate.

1 trillion yuan ($144 billion) for solar power as the country seeks to boost solar capacity by five times
700 billion yuan ($100 billion) for wind farms
500 billion yuan ($72 billion) for hydro power
300 billion yuan ($42 billion) tidal and geothermal

China’s investment in renewables sources of electric power in 2015 reached a world record of $110.5 billion – mostly going on wind farms, solar farms and hydro dams (including smaller hydro facilities, not just giant dams)

According to China’s five year energy plan, by 2020,
* hydropower installed capacity will reach 380 million kilowatts (including 40 million kilowatts of pumped storage power stations)
* installed capacity of wind power will reach 210 million kilowatts.
* Solar Installed capacity of more than 110 million kilowatts,
* biomass power generation installed capacity of 15 million kilowatts,
* the total utilization of geothermal heating to 42 million tons of standard coal development goals.