Saudi Arabia aims to reduce the growth of its energy demand. This paper outlines an approach that could help the country to reduce substantively its current fuel consumption and could result in a net economic gain without increasing current end consumer prices and while maintaining positive utility sector net cash flows. Using a new multi-sector equilibrium model developed by KAPSARC (the KAPSARC Energy Model or KEM), we estimate the magnitudes of the potential economic gains that different policies would generate. Our long term static version of the model reveals that an annual economic gain exceeding 23 billion USD in 2011, or almost 5% of that year’s GDP, could have been achieved while the water and power sectors continue to live within their cash flows. Our approach—which introduces investment credits for solar and nuclear and allows more natural gas consumption in the power sector—achieves almost all the benefit of raising inter-sector transfer prices for fuels to world market equivalences, but only moderately increases current transfer prices. Importantly, this gain does not require an increase in consumer prices of electricity or water.

Research Fellow Walid works on modeling energy systems. He is developing or has developed the following components of the KAPSARC Energy Model… Walid works on modeling energy systems. He is developing or has developed the following components of the KAPSARC Energy Model (KEM): electric power generation, oil refining, petrochemicals and fertilizers, cement production, and iron and steel. He is also working on a bottom-up residential electricity use framework that merges microeconomics with the physical laws governing electricity use.
Expertise
- Energy Systems Modeling
- Optimization
- Electricity Prices
- Energy Efficiency and the Interdisciplinary Connection Between Energy Economics and Engineering
Publications See all Walid Matar’s publications

Energy Policy Pathways to Inform Climate Policy in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia aims to reduce the growth of its energy demand. This paper outlines an…
13th November 2023
A Decomposition Approach to Energy Policy Analysis
Saudi Arabia aims to reduce the growth of its energy demand. This paper outlines an…
18th September 2023