RIYADH: Red Sea Global has announced the installation of 750,000 solar panels in a huge boost for the development’s sustainability drive. The giga-project has also constructed five solar stations as it gears up for the first phase of its opening, which will see 16 hotels, retail, and entertainment venues come online and powered entirely by renewable energy. RSG is also implementing the world’s largest battery storage facility at a capacity of 1,200 megawatts per hour, which will enable the company to achieve 100 percent grid independence. The tourist destination is set to operate 50 resorts by 2030, with up to 8,000 hotel rooms and over 1,000 residential buildings spread across 22 islands and six inland areas. Along with the giga-project of NEOM, RSG has put sustainability as a key tenet of its development, in line with Saudi Arabia’s target to reach net-zero for carbon emissions by 2060. John Pagano, the CEO of RSG, said ensuring that the world’s largest tourism destination is fully powered by renewable energy falls within such commitment, according to the Saudi Press Agency. Pagano added that the installation of electroluminescent panels at the five solar stations had been completed as part of the first phase of the Red Sea Project, and the complete independence of the venture from the national grid makes it not only the largest, but also the first of its kind in the world. All vehicles transporting visitors to the Red Sea Tourism Project will be fully powered by solar energy, starting with their arrival at the Red Sea International Airport and continuing through their movements within the sites and between the nearby islands. According to the SPA, RSG is also investing in human capital, and has provided vocational training scholarships to 500 people in cooperation with the Human Resources Development Fund, of which 50 people have received training in renewables. The company aims to provide specialized training to a total of 10,000 Saudi citizens by 2030. Alongside this, RSG is working to ensure half of its workforce are Saudi nationals. In May, while speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of Arabian Travel Market 2023 in Dubai, Tracy Lanza, global head of brand development at RSG, revealed the company was edging closer to hitting that target. “The goal is 50-50 and we are nearly there, and I can say from a marketing standpoint, our team is at 67 percent and growing. We also have the largest percentage of Saudi women, I think, at the company,” said Lanza.