Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy expansion is taking shape across 53 projects, with a combined tracked capacity of 63.8 gigawatts, according to the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center.
Of that capacity, 19.3 GW was operating in 2026, more than 63 times the level recorded in 2020, KAPSARC’s Saudi Arabia Renewables Tracker showed. The rest of the pipeline includes projects under development or tendered.
The figures show the scale of the buildout as the Kingdom works toward its target of 100 to 130 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2060.
KAPSARC said on X that the figures embody “the Kingdom’s ambition and its promising future in the energy and sustainability sector.”
Solar accounts for 81 percent of the capacity tracked by the dashboard, with wind making up the remaining 19 percent. About 30 percent is installed, 37 percent is under development and 32 percent is tendered.
The projects span 11 regions, from Al-Jouf and the Northern Borders to Aseer and Jazan. Further announcements are expected as Saudi Arabia accelerates work toward its 2030 renewable energy goals, according to the dashboard.
The expansion supports Vision 2030 plans to increase electricity generation and incorporate cleaner technologies, including readiness for carbon capture.
Costs vary across the projects. The tracker lists levelized costs of energy, a measure of electricity production costs over a project’s lifetime, ranging from 1.04 cents per kilowatt-hour at Shuaibah 1 to 2.98 cents at Layla.
Several large solar plants under development fall within a narrower range of about 1.09 to 1.36 cents per kWh. Najran is listed at 1.09 cents.
For projects with an expected commissioning year of 2026, the tracker records eight developments totaling 7.7 GW. Six are marked as installed.
The largest are the Haden and Muwayh solar projects in Makkah, each with 2 GW of capacity, followed by the 1.5 GW Khushaybi solar project in Al-Qassim.
The other installed projects are the 600-megawatt Alghat wind project in Riyadh, the 500 MW Waad Al Shammal wind project in the Northern Borders and the 400 MW Tabarjal solar project in Al-Jouf.
Two projects scheduled for 2026 remain under development: the 400 MW Henakiyah 2 solar project in Madinah and the 300 MW Rabigh 2 solar project in Makkah.
