Saudi renewables with storage 20% cheaper than gas-fired power at global gas prices: ACWA Power Chief

By Anoop Menon

Renewable energy combined with battery storage is approximately 20 percent cheaper than conventional gas-fired electricity generation when benchmarked against international gas prices, according to the chairman of Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the 25th WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh on Tuesday, Abunayyan said electricity generated from renewable sources could cost almost 40 percent less than gas-fired generation when calculated using prevailing international natural gas prices.

He acknowledged the intermittent nature of solar and wind generation but said the growing cost-competitiveness of energy storage had strengthened the economics of renewable power.

"Yes, the solar or the wind blows at certain times. You have certain hours, but today, with the competitiveness of storage, and if we add storage today to renewables and see the cost of gas and conventional energy, today we are 20 percent lower," he said.

International natural gas prices have risen amid disruptions to liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, particularly shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, and competition for cargoes between European and Asian buyers. For example, Europe's benchmark Dutch TTF gas futures traded at around €87 per megawatt-hour (MWh) on 13 October, near their highest levels since late 2022, as disruptions to LNG shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and low European gas inventories heightened supply concerns, according multiple reports by The Financial Times, Montel and others.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by SA Kader)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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