Located in Riyadh, KA-Care endeavours to promote sustainable energy as part of Saudi Arabia’s plan to meet its rapidly rising demand for power. Saudi Arabia currently exploits a high proportion of its hydrocarbon resources, which it could otherwise sell, to meet domestic electricity demand. KA-Care is working to change this.

While the decree focuses on the establishment of a scientific city to research sustainable energy, KA-Care intends to develop a series of large-scale atomic and renewable energy facilities. Plans for nuclear and renewable power are being drawn up separately but in parallel with one another. KA-Care is yet to confirm the scale of its nuclear power aspirations but reports suggest that it is planning to develop a 17GW nuclear programme by 2032. It is currently in the process of appointing an advisory team to develop the regulatory and legal framework for the plans.

On the renewable energy side, KA-Care is preparing to invite bids to develop 2,850MW of clean energy as independent power projects. It will issue a draft request for proposals (RFP) by the third quarter of 2012, with a final RFP issued in the first quarter of 2013. Bidders will be asked to submit a proposed tariff for the power generated from their projects.

This will be the first round of renewable energy projects procured by KA-Care. About 1,100MW of capacity is to be developed as photovoltaic solar energy, 900MW as concentrated solar power, 650MW as wind projects and 200MW as other sources, including geothermal and waste-to-energy.

A second round of procurement will be carried out in 2013 and 2014. In this round, KA-Care will target about 1,300MW of photovoltaic solar power capacity, 1,200MW of concentrated solar power, 1,050MW of wind power and 250MW in other alternative energy projects. Once two rounds of procurement have been completed, KA-Care will consider introducing a universal feed-in tariff for renewable power.

KA-Care is keen to promote localisation in the value chain. About 78 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s spending on renewable energy to 2030 is intended to benefit local companies. Of this, 56 per cent will be in services and 22 per cent in manufacturing.