Saudi Arabian energy market feels the winds of change

Saudi Aramco recently took the first step toward giving Saudi Arabia a new electricity provider: wind power.

The company partnered with GE to build the country's first wind energy turbine, which will provide electricity to the Saudi Aramco bulk plant facility in Turaif.  

“The commissioning of the first wind turbine is the start of something new in the kingdom that Saudi Aramco is driving with our partners,” Abdulkarim Ghamdi, Saudi Aramco executive director of power systems, said. “Wind Turbine No. 1 in Turaif will fully meet the electricity needs for the bulk plant and even feed surplus electricity back into the national grid."

Ghamdi said wind energy moves Saudi Arabia closer to its Saudi Vision 2030 goal of realizing a 9.5 gigawatt national renewable energy target.
 
Saudi Aramco and GE held a commissioning event for the wind energy station that was attended by Ghamdi and GE executives Anne McEntee, Ruhan Temeltas and Zaher Ibrahim, as well as local business leaders and dignitaries.
 
“We see the installation of this GE wind turbine in Turaif as a great demonstration of the long partnership we have with Saudi Aramco,” Ibrahim, President & CEO of GE Oil and Gas Saudi Arabia, said.