Saudi Arabian Member Committee

INTRODUCTION

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to advance its position within the evolving global energy landscape through a systematic, organized, and consensus-driven approach that transcends traditional hydrocarbon reliance. Anchored in the technocratic precision of Vision 2030, the Kingdom’s energy policy has matured from the strategic foundations established in recent years into a period of intensive, high-impact execution. By leveraging an economic, financial, and opportunity-based approach, Saudi Arabia is not merely managing a transition but is engineering a comprehensive sectoral upgrade. This proactive, bottom-up reconstruction of the national energy mix ensures that the Kingdom maintains a leading role in the evolving global energy sector while maintaining domestic stability and powering progress.

POWER GRID

Building upon the earlier achievements which highlighted the Kingdom's leadership in redefining the Energy Trilemma, and the subsequent focus on dynamic resilience, the 2026 Energy Issues Monitor reveals a maturing landscape where the focus has gradually moved toward delivery. The infrastructure planning and execution speed required to realize the Kingdom’s target of expanding renewable energy capacities and energy storage systems to reach around 50% of the optimal energy mix by 2030, subject to electricity demand growth while the remaining share will be from gas fired power plants. Hence, unmistakably the report signals that "Power Grids" have emerged as the primary catalyst for this transformation, carrying an unprecedented impact score. This technocratic-based focus is a direct evolution of earlier goals to connect conventional and renewable resources across the Kingdom’s harsh and diversified terrains.

INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING

The Kingdom has been expanding its transmission network from around 95,000 km to 160,000 km by 2030. Such infrastructure delivery is backed by a high "Infrastructure Planning & Delivery Speed" observed impact score, reflecting a deeply organized confidence in the Kingdom’s ability to execute complex, large-scale projects on schedule. A prime example of this delivery is the rapid expansion of the Master Gas System, which will add over 3.1 billion standard cubic feet per day of capacity and extend the system by approximately 4,000 km to reach additional industrial cities.

This broader infrastructure planning approach is evident across the Kingdom’s project pipeline, encompassing resource assessment, renewable energy, and energy storage.

The National Geographical Survey Project covers approximately 850,000km², with around 577,000km² surveyed to date and 826 resource measurement stations installed to support the exponential growth of renewable energy in the Kingdom.

As a result, the renewable energy portfolio has expanded to 58 projects with a total capacity of 63.8 GW, including 51.6 GW of solar capacity and 12.2 GW of wind capacity as of March 2026. These projects are progressing across different stages, with some already connected to the grid, others under construction, and additional projects under tendering.

In parallel, the BESS portfolio reached 15 projects with a total capacity of 30 GWh that are under different stages (connected, under-construction, and tendering stages). Together, these developments show that infrastructure planning in the Kingdom covers more than transmission and gas systems to include the assets needed to support the energy mix and a more integrated and reliable power system.

SUPPLY CHAINS

This systematic evolution over the years in the Energy Issues Monitor is mirrored in the Kingdom's handling of the Energy Trilemma, where security, equity, and sustainability are balanced through data-driven, bottom-up and consensus-driven policies. Saudi Arabia has integrated supply chain resilience into its core definition of energy security, a strategic necessity highlighted as observed by the “Secure & Responsible Supply Chains" impact score in 2026. By maintaining a maximum sustainable capacity of 12 million barrels of oil per day, the Kingdom ensures both domestic supply and global market stability while proactively embarking the world largest liquid displacement program from its own power generation sector.

CLEAN MOLECULES

The sustainability pillar is reinforced by the CCE framework’s "4Rs" model—reduce, reuse, recycle, and remove. The Kingdom seeks to turn "Emissions to Value" through the development of global Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) hubs in Jubail and Yanbu. These hubs exemplify an economic-based approach to climate challenge, leveraging the concentration of heavy industries to achieve economies of scale, with a target of capturing 44 million tons of CO2 per year by 2035 in Jubail alone.

SUPPLY & DEMAND

The growth of the "New Economy"—driven by the exponential rise of AI data centers, advanced manufacturing, and the surge in critical mineral mining—is creating a significant strain on finite resources and rapidly escalating global energy needs. By 2030, generative AI users are projected to reach 730 million, contributing to a 95% increase in data center power demand, while the semiconductor market is expected to nearly double to $1.1 trillion. Saudi Arabia is strategically positioned to capture and supply this emerging demand by leveraging its resilient and balanced energy model.

In order to capture this new demand, the Kingdom had already restructured its power sector to achieve energy equity and affordability through a bottom-up approach that has consistently delivered world breaking record-lows in Levelized Costs of Electricity (LCOE) for renewable energy, notably 1.04 cents/kWh for solar and 1.33 cents/kWh for wind.

The Kingdom managed to achieve that by restructuring its power sector model strategically to ensure reliable, competitive energy pricing while actively attracting private investment, operating under the guidance of a central policymaker and regulator. The model breaks the value chain into distinct segments, beginning with a highly competitive generation phase where independent developers participate in fully open thermal and renewable energy projects. At the core of the wholesale segment lies Saudi Power procurement Company (Principal Buyer), a pivotal entity designed to optimize the procurement of power.

By leveraging competitive bidding processes, the Principal Buyer drives cost efficiency, consistently achieving world-record low prices for electricity generation. Importantly, this push for affordability does not come at the expense of financial security; the structure ensures that investors are provided with stable and predictable returns. Therefore, the Principal Buyer acts as a critical stabilizing force within the sector, carefully balancing administered decision-making with the dynamics of open market competition to maintain a robust and attractive investment environment. Finally, the transmission, distribution, and retail segments are managed by a single integrated utility, the Saudi Energy Company. This dynamic model creates economies of scale, enables system-wide visibility for optimal reliability, and accelerates project delivery and grid connections.

BIG DATA & AI

Moreover, the 2026 data highlights the emergence of "Digital & AI System Optimization" as a high-impact uncertainty. Rather than viewing this as a risk, the Kingdom is adopting an opportunity-based approach to the digital frontier. Recognizing that the demand for data centers and AI is an embedded component of the optimized energy mix, Saudi Arabia is leveraging digital technologies to enhance grid flexibility and decision-making. This digital transformation is supported by proactive measures, such as establishing a specific electricity tariff of 0.18 SAR/kWh for cloud computing to foster data center growth.

To manage the inherent intermittency of renewable sources and the complex demands of these new technologies, "Storage & Flexibility" is a critical action priority per the survey. The Kingdom’s unique achievement of installing smart meters in 100% of the market in just 13 months during the pandemic serves as the technocratic foundation for this digital leap, allowing for a more resilient, responsive, and efficient energy system.

GLOBAL COOPERATION AND TRADE

Saudi Arabia continues to play a pivotal role in providing reliable, secure, and affordable crude oil and refined products to the global market. By working consistently with all OPEC+ members, the Kingdom supports balance and stability in the global oil market, ensuring a reliable environment for both producers and consumers. Saudi Arabia champions a bottom-up, inclusive model of global cooperation that extends beyond mere transactional trade. The Kingdom demonstrates its commitment to a sustainable energy future by actively collaborating with other countries on both regional and global levels. This includes leading efforts to expand access to affordable electricity through large-scale renewable energy and electricity projects developed by Saudi companies. In addition to improving food and energy security in Africa and South-East Asia through initiatives like the Middle East Green Initiative Clean Fuels Solutions for Cooking (Forward7), which aims to provide clean cooking solutions to 750 million people globally.

CONCLUSION

Ultimately, the Saudi energy story is one of proactive global leadership and inclusive empowerment. From the development of the world's largest clean hydrogen project in NEOM, which is on track to start producing up to 210,000 tonnes by early 2027, to the upcoming hosting of the 27th World Energy Congress in Riyadh, the Kingdom is fostering a consensus-driven dialogue on the global stage. This journey is powered by a youthful, ambitious workforce and strategic initiatives like the "Ignited Voices" program and the Saudi Energy Leaders Assembly, ensuring that the transition is both sustainable and inclusive for generations to come.

Acknowledgements

Saudi Arabia Member Committee