Saudi Arabia is building the largest solar project in human history — right in the middle of the desert.
The Al Shuaibah solar complex, located in the Makkah region of western Saudi Arabia, will cover 200 square kilometres of desert with 4.1 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity — making it the single largest solar power plant ever constructed on Earth when fully operational in 2025.
Saudi Arabia receives among the highest solar irradiance on the planet. The Rub' al Khali desert, where most of the Kingdom's solar development is concentrated, averages 2,400 kilowatt-hours of solar energy per square metre annually — nearly double the solar resource available in Germany, currently one of the world's largest solar markets.
The economics are transformative. Saudi Arabia's new solar plants are generating electricity at a levelised cost of $0.0104 per kilowatt-hour — the lowest price ever recorded for electricity generated from any source, anywhere in the world. That is one cent per kilowatt-hour.
The Kingdom's Vision 2030 energy plan targets 50% renewable electricity by 2030, requiring 130 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity. Al Shuaibah is the flagship — but 34 additional projects are already in procurement across the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia sold the world its oil for a century. Now it is preparing to sell it something far more powerful — its sun.
Saudi Vision 2030 Energy Programme Report (2024)
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