Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia in Numbers: 12,313 MW and 88% Growth in One Year

Capacity almost doubles in a single year

Put the two numbers side by side. At the end of 2024, operating capacity stood at 6,551 MW: nine solar projects totalling 6,151 MW and one wind project of 400 MW.

By the end of 2025 it reached 12,313 MW. The increase came from five new solar projects commissioned during the year with a combined capacity of 5,762 MW, taking the total number of operating projects from ten to fifteen.

Growth of 88% in twelve months is not an ordinary figure in infrastructure, where projects are measured in years rather than months. It reflects the maturity of an entire chain, from planning and financing through contracting and operation.

SAR 36 billion of investment in operation

The financial figures tell the same story. Total investment in renewable energy projects that entered operation reached SAR 36.11 billion by the end of 2025, against SAR 19.84 billion at the end of 2024.

Notably, the projects commissioned during 2025 alone accounted for SAR 16.27 billion, about 45% of all operating investment in the sector. Put differently: close to half of what has been invested in this field over years entered operation in a single year.

The map: six administrative regions

The fifteen projects are not concentrated in one place; they span six administrative regions. Riyadh leads with five projects (33.3%), followed by Makkah with four (26.7%), then Qassim and Al-Jouf with two each (13.3% apiece), and Al-Madinah and Hail with one each (6.7% apiece).

For a small business owner, this distribution is the most useful part of the report. A large plant does not run alone: it needs subcontractors, transport, catering, security, maintenance, and the supply of equipment and spare parts. Every region that receives a project receives a local supply chain with it.

Among the landmark operating plants: the Sudair solar plant at 1,500 MW, the Sakaka plant at 300 MW as the Kingdom’s first large-scale commercial solar project, and the Dumat Al-Jandal plant at 400 MW as its first wind project.

939 thousand housing units

Here is the number that translates megawatts into daily life: the number of housing units that can be supplied with electricity from these projects rose to roughly 939 thousand a year by the end of 2025.

That is where the story comes together. Operating capacity is no longer a promise inside a plan; it is electricity reaching hundreds of thousands of homes, on a rising path led by Saudi Vision 2030 toward a more diversified energy mix.

Where your business fits into this surge

Let us be precise: most small businesses will not build a solar plant. But plants are neither built nor run without hundreds of suppliers and subcontractors, and that is exactly where Saudi businesses fit into this growth. Working inside the supply chain of a large project has an accounting character that differs from daily retail selling.

First, calculate cost and profit per project, separately. When you are running two or three contracts at once, the year-end total profit will not tell you which contract earned and which consumed your time. The Tasks and Projects module in Qoyod tracks time and cost and ties them to the accounting entries, so each project’s result stands on its own.

Second, prepare for progress billing. Supply and contracting agreements are invoiced in stages rather than in one payment, and every stage is a compliant invoice carrying VAT. E-invoicing in Qoyod complies with Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority requirements for Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Third, follow collections consistently. Payment cycles on large projects run longer than those of direct sales, and the gap between issuing an invoice and collecting it is what squeezes liquidity. The customer receivables aging report shows uncollected invoices across consecutive comparison periods, up to 13 of them, so you read the trend rather than a snapshot.

Fourth, have your financial statements ready before they are requested. Qualifying to work with a main contractor or a large entity usually begins with a request for regular financial statements and a clean tax compliance record. That readiness is built through steady bookkeeping across the year, not in the week before a bid.

Recommendations

Four practical steps to take from the numbers in this report:

• Read the project map geographically. If your business is in Riyadh, Makkah, Qassim, Al-Jouf, Al-Madinah or Hail, you are already within range of an operating project.
• Identify where you add value in the chain. Transport, catering, maintenance and consumables supply are realistic openings for a small business, far closer than specialised technical supply.
• Separate each contract’s accounts from day one. Merging two projects into one ledger makes knowing the true profit nearly impossible once they end.
• Build financial readiness before the opportunity, not after it. Regular statements and compliant invoicing are what turn an opportunity into a contract.

12,313 megawatts, 15 projects across six regions, SAR 36 billion of operating investment, and 939 thousand housing units: these are the numbers of a sector advancing confidently within the path of Saudi Vision 2030. The business that reads the map early and builds its financial readiness is the one that finds a place in this chain.

Sources

1. General Authority for Statistics: Renewable Energy Statistics 2025 (operating capacity of 12,313 MW, 88% growth, 15 projects and their distribution across six administrative regions, 5,762 MW added during the year, and the housing units supplied).
2. General Authority for Statistics: Renewable Energy Statistics 2024 (operating capacity of 6,551 MW split between nine solar projects and one wind project, and investment of SAR 19.839 billion split between SAR 18.264 billion for solar and SAR 1.575 billion for wind).
3. Saudi Press Agency: publication of the Renewable Energy Statistics 2024 figures issued by the General Authority for Statistics.
4. Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority: e-invoicing requirements for Phase 1 and Phase 2.