Assessment of Solar Energy Availability and its Potential Applications in NEOM Region

NEOM is a proposed megacity and business zone in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It was announced in 2017 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the goal of creating a hub for innovation and a hub for the future of living. NEOM is planned to cover an area of over 26,500 square miles and will include a focus on sustainability and cutting-edge technology. The project is being backed by the Saudi Arabian government and private investment. The primary objective of KSA is to utilize the renewable energy resources in the NEOM region sustainably. This study evaluates the availability of solar energy in the NEOM region on a quantitative and qualitative basis, and a database of weather conditions such as temperatures and wind speed is collected and processed. NEOM has favorable climate conditions with an average annual radiation incident energy of 12.54 GJ/m2, wind speed of 15.68 km/h, and temperatures ranging from 16 to 38°C. Based on the analyzed data, the study investigates the potential of solar energy as a sustainable source and alternative to conventional fossil fuels. The utilization of solar energy could be applied in various ways including seawater humidification-dehumidification (HDH) desalination with productivity of 26-33 l/day/m2, solar cooling with an average load of 15 MJ/day/m2, green hydrogen production with rate of 41-47 mole/day/m2, and electrical power generation with rate 4.2-6.8 MJ/day/m2.