Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

A Review of the Impact of Impounded Rivers in KSA and as an Assessment of their Potential for Hydroelectric Power Generation

Ahmed Al Nashrey

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change · pp. 845–867 · Published 27 Jul 2024

10.9734/ijecc/2024/v14i74324

Abstract

As an alternative to fossil fuels-based power generation, hydropower offers cheap operating and maintenance costs, a clean, and sustainable domestic energy source. Currently, hydro resources account for about more than 15% of the global electricity, with renewables accounting for 70% of the total. While 150 countries produce hydropower, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has around 559 dams that could have the capacity for hydropower energy production. KSA can meet its internal demand, produce an excess for export, and create jobs for its people by utilising its renewable resource. Therefore, this paper reviews KSA’s current dams and assesses their environmental and socioeconomic impacts and then, it is conducted out technical feasibility study if is sustainable to retrofit Hydroelectric Power (HEP) to existing dams.

Hydropower KSA dam energy

References (64)

  1. 1 How green is my river? A new paradigm of eutrophication in rivers [DOI]
  2. 2 Carbon dioxide and methane emissions and the carbon budget of a 10‐year old tropical reservoir (Petit Saut, French Guiana) [DOI]
  3. 3 Enhanced upper ocean stratification with climate change in the CMIP3 models [DOI]
  4. 4 Review of small hydropower technology [DOI]
  5. 5 Strategies for managing reservoir sedimentation [DOI]
  6. 6 Sedimentation problems and management strategies of Sanmenxia Reservoir, Yellow River, China [DOI]
  7. 7 Integration of PV floating with hydroelectric power plants [DOI]
  8. 8 Environmental impacts of hydroelectric projects on fish resources in China [DOI]
  9. 9 After the Deluge: A longitudinal study of resettlement at the Three Gorges Dam, China [DOI]
  10. 10 Photovoltaic potential and land-use estimation methodology [DOI]
  11. 11 Dams have varying impacts on fish communities across latitudes: a quantitative synthesis [DOI]
  12. 12 The local socio-economic impacts of large hydropower plant development in a developing country [DOI]
  13. 13 River Dynamics and Integrated River Management [DOI]
  14. 14 Quantifying the impacts of the Three Gorges Reservoir on water temperature in the middle reach of the Yangtze River [DOI]
  15. 15 Impact of climate change on hydropower generation in Rio Jubones Basin, Ecuador [DOI]
  16. 16 Impacts of climate change on hydropower generation in China [DOI]
  17. 17 Floating solar photovoltaic systems: An overview and their feasibility at Kota in Rajasthan [DOI]
  18. 18 A review of hydropower dams in Southeast Europe – distribution, trends and availability of monitoring data using the example of a multinational Danube catchment subarea [DOI]
  19. 19 What is sustainability? [DOI]
  20. 20 Sustainability in hydropower development—A case study [DOI]
  21. 21 Ecological influence of dam construction and river-lake connectivity on migration fish habitat in the Yangtze River basin, China [DOI]
  22. 22 Analysis for cost estimation of low head run-of-river small hydropower schemes [DOI]
  23. 23 Progress in the studies on the greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs [DOI]
  24. 24 Estimating the potential yield of small wind turbines in urban areas: A case study for Greater London, UK [DOI]
  25. 25 Anaerobic decomposition of tropical soils and plant material: Implication for the CO2 and CH4 budget of the Petit Saut Reservoir [DOI]
  26. 26 Managing reservoir sedimentation by venting turbidity currents: A review [DOI]
  27. 27 New evidence may support the persistence and adaptability of the near-extinct Chinese sturgeon [DOI]
  28. 28 Dominant mechanism for annual maximum flood and sediment events generation in the Yellow River basin [DOI]
  29. 29 Climate Change and Hydropower Planning in the Middle East: Implications for Iran’s Karkheh Hydropower Systems [DOI]
  30. 30 Understanding the Temperature Variations and Thermal Structure of a Subtropical Deep River-Run Reservoir before and after Impoundment [DOI]
  31. 31 Acute impacts of reservoir sediment flushing on fishes in the Yellow River [DOI]
  32. 32 Social Impacts of Dam-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: A Comparative Case Study in China [DOI]
  33. 33 Characteristic of the water temperature lag in Three Gorges Reservoir and its effect on the water temperature structure of tributaries [DOI]
  34. 34 Performance Assessment and Improvement of Central Receivers Used for Solar Thermal Plants [DOI]
  35. 35 Influence of Three Gorges Project on Water quality of Poyang Lake [DOI]
  36. 36 Threatened obligatory riverine fishes in human‐modified Polish rivers [DOI]
  37. 37 Spatiotemporal distributions of nutrients in the downstream from Gezhouba Dam in Yangtze River, China [DOI]
  38. 38 Alterations of riverine ecosystems adversely affect bird assemblages [DOI]
  39. 39 Water management during climate change using aquifer storage and recovery of stormwater in a dunefield in western Saudi Arabia [DOI]
  40. 40 Indirect economic impacts of dams : case studies from India, Egypt, and Brazil
  41. 41 La importancia de los hábitats riparios para las comunidades de aves en un paisaje neotropical altamente modificado por el ser humano [DOI]
  42. 42 Impacts of hydropeaking and thermopeaking on the downstream habitat in the Dal River, Korea [DOI]
  43. 43 Diagnostics of Western Himalayan Satluj River flow: Warm season (MAM/JJAS) inflow into Bhakra dam in India [DOI]
  44. 44 Perceived Impact of the Alqueva Dam on Regional Tourism Development [DOI]
  45. 45 The history of the Atlantic Salmon in Lake Ontario [DOI]
  46. 46 Scheduling strategy of hybrid wind-photovoltaic-hydro power generation system [DOI]
  47. 47 The Three Gorges Project in China [DOI]
  48. 48 Land Assessment for Agricultural Use in Jizan Basin, KSA, After 48 Years of Jizan Dam Construction [DOI]
  49. 49 An Approach For Water Planning In Jizan In Saudi Arabia [DOI]
  50. 50 Workforce Development for U.S. Hydropower: Key Trends and Findings [DOI]
  51. 51 Extinction of one of the world's largest freshwater fishes: Lessons for conserving the endangered Yangtze fauna [DOI]
  52. 52 Hybrid Floating Solar Plant Designs: A Review [DOI]
  53. 53 Floating photovoltaics could mitigate climate change impacts on water body temperature and stratification [DOI]
  54. 54 Sustainability assessment of hydropower projects [DOI]
  55. 55 The net GHG emissions of the China Three Gorges Reservoir: I. Pre-impoundment GHG inventories and carbon balance [DOI]
  56. 56 The impact of green energy infrastructure on firm productivity: Evidence from the Three Gorges Project in China [DOI]
  57. 57 A Flood Risk Management Program of Wadi Baysh Dam on the Downstream Area: An Integration of Hydrologic and Hydraulic Models, Jizan Region, KSA [DOI]
  58. 58 A Comparative Analysis of Hidden Markov Model, Hybrid Support Vector Machines, and Hybrid Artificial Neural Fuzzy Inference System in Reservoir Inflow Forecasting (Case Study: The King Fahd Dam, Saudi Arabia) [DOI]
  59. 59 Spatiotemporal Evolution and the Influencing Factors of Tourism-Based Social-Ecological System Vulnerability in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China [DOI]
  60. 60 Dealing with uncertainties: floating solar farm in natural lakes [DOI]
  61. 61 2014 Hydropower Market Report Data [DOI]
  62. 62 The Political Economy of Hydropower in Southwest China and Beyond [DOI]
  63. 63 Can we identify wild-born salmon from parentage assignment data? A case study in the Garonne-Dordogne rivers salmon restoration programme in France [DOI]
  64. 64 Evaluation of Factors Governing the Use of Floating Solar System: A Study on Iran's Important Water Infrastructures [DOI]

Cited by 1

The Impact of Adopting Renewable Energy Resources on Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: A Qualitative View

Hakim Laid Mouloud Benhacene, Asaad Mubarak Hussien · Sustainability · 2025

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

1

Page views

0

PDF downloads

0

Outbound clicks

1

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.