Study of NEOM city renewable energy mix and balance problem

Abstract: It is important for NEOM management in the contemporary world to put in place NEOM projects using the available resources. The region in which the NEOM project is spacious and vast with conditions suited to generate energy from solar and wind. The NEOM projectis expected to be set up in the very resourceful state of Saudi Arabia. The purpose of the study is to assist in setting up a sustainable city through the exploitation of solar and wind energy. The aim of the study was to assist in the generation of more than 10 GW renewable energy to replace approximately 80,000 barrels of fossil energy. The problem of coming up with renewable and sustainable energy from the unexploited sources is addressed. The renewable city is expected to be a technological hub based on Green Energy with 100% renewable energy, which is correspond to 72:4GW. Freiburg and Masdar as renewable cities are used as case studies in the research. NEOM power generation capacity is capable to cover Saudi Arabia power generation capacity (approximately 71GW), which is more than enough for a city. The study reveals that the total power generation from wind farms, tidal farms, solar stations, and solar power tower stations are 9:1373GW, 4:76GW, 57:398GW and 1:11GW respectively. Saudi Arabia has plans to set up 16 nuclear plants (17 GW each) for energy purposes (total of 272 GW), which will be part of Saudi Arabia national grid and will be more than enough to cover NEOM electricity demand in case NEOM does not reach demand capacity. In case NEOM energy does not meet the demand, electricity generation from 16 Nuclearpower plants generating 17GW each, and 6 Natural underground batteries with a capacity of 120MW each are recommended. The study results can be applied in NEOM Institute of Science and Technology for further research on renewable energy. The findings can also be used for research extension of HVDC transmission lines between NEOM and Saudi Arabia main grid, Egypt, and Jordan.