As part of its strategy to promote sustainable tourism, Saudi Arabia’s The Red Sea Development Co. has announced its plans to use biofuels to operate all its tourist facilities.
TRSDC has chosen the German firm MAN Energy Solutions to supply it with 25 sets of biofuel generators with a total production capacity of 112 MW.
As Saudi’s iconic tourist destination will rely on renewable energy supplies rather than the national electricity grid, the infrastructure of the Red Sea project will be powered by solar plants that will include storage batteries powered by MAN gensets in six different locations.
This is part of the comprehensive renewable energy supply infrastructure being developed by a consortium led by the Saudi developer and ACWA Power.
Even if solar energy is not available, the energy source claims to be completely climate-neutral, thanks to biofuels run by gensets, according to the CEO of TRSDC.
By 2030, it is expected that 22 islands will be developed along with six inland sites, and there will be 48 hotels hosting 8,000 rooms.
The biofuel used is B100, a type of biodiesel. Such fuels often require expert assessment of their sustainability credentials, to verify where and how exactly the crops they were produced from were grown.
“The importance of the Red Sea destination lies in its support for the economic diversification strategy pursued by Saudi Arabia by providing job opportunities, encouraging entrepreneurship, and attracting local and foreign investments in the Kingdom, as part of Vision 2030,” said John Pagano, the firm’s CEO.
