Saudi Arabia has signed up DNV GL, a leading technical advisor to the global oil and gas industry, to undertake analysis of the country’s capacity for energy efficiency.

Under the $2.5 million contract, DNV GL will develop a study to assess electricity end-use efficiency which will enable the forecast of future electricity consumption trends and the development of appropriate planning methodologies.

Driven by economic, industrial, commercial and population growth, the electricity demand of Saudi Arabia has more than doubled since 2000 and is anticipated to continue increasing rapidly- at an average rate of more than eight per cent every year - for the next ten years.

The surge in electricity consumption is prompting Saudi Arabia to pursue a number of supply - and demand-side options. Among these options, energy efficiency offers significant potential to cost effectively offset demand growth, said the Norway-based company.

To get the most out of its energy efficiency investments, Saudi Arabia needs to understand how electricity is being used by consumers in residential and non-residential sectors, it stated.

In a $2.5 million project that will be executed over the next 20 months, DNV GL will be working closely with Saudi Electricity Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (Ecra) and the Saudi Electric Company (Sec) and various stakeholders to develop a comprehensive understanding of power consumption patterns and trends across the Kingdom.

The research team will collect data on the stock of appliances and end uses within each customer sector, including hourly data on customers’ demand for energy both at the customer whole-facility level and - most importantly - at the end-use level.

This information will be used by ECRA, SEC and other Saudi government agencies to forecast future trends and develop appropriate planning methodologies, it added.

Mohammed Atif, the regional manager (Middle East) for energy, said: “DNV GL is very excited to bring in global energy expertise into this world-class project, and we commend Ecra and Sec for taking this bold step to better understand the energy use of their customers and to unveil the potential of energy efficiency in the region.”