Biggest solar plant ‘a Saudi milestone’

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has completed its biggest ground-mounted photovoltaic plant as the Kingdom seeks to generate a third of its electricity with energy from the sun by 2032.

Germany’s Phoenix Solar AG (PS4) developed the 3.5-MW plant in Riyadh that uses 12,684 panels from China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP) and inverters from SMA Solar Technology AG (S92), Phoenix Solar said in a statement.

“This project represents an important milestone in the development of the solar industry in the Kingdom,” Ron Shen, Suntech’s vice president of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, was quoted as saying in a statement, cited by news agencies.

Analysts say Saudi Arabia plans to boost renewable energy use as a way to pare back on oil consumption used for domestic desalinization and power plants, potentially saving 523,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day over the next 20 years.

http://www.arabnews.com/biggest-solar-plant-%E2%80%98-saudi-milestone%E2%80%99