Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH – The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources said on Tuesday that it is working in partnership with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), SoftBank and other related authorities in the Kingdom to implement several mega projects worth several billion dollars in the field of solar energy.

The goal of these projects is to produce 200 megawatts of electricity from solar energy by 2030.

The ministry has sent invitations to investors, consultants, and contractors to participate in these projects.

At present plans to implement short-term experimental projects are being carried out, the ministry said.

A presentation regarding this was given by Abdulrahman Bin Abdulkareem, adviser to the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, at the 11th annual Arab Energy Forum in Morocco.

He briefed the forum on the Kingdom’s plan to achieve a pioneering global status in the field of solar energy and create investment opportunities in this sector valued at $200 billion.

An official at Public Investment Fund (PIF) said on Monday that a Wall Street Journal report that it had shelved a $200 billion plan with SoftBank Group Corp to build the world’s biggest solar-power-generation project was “incorrect.”

PIF “continues to work with the SoftBank Vision Fund and other institutions on a number of largescale, multi-billion-dollar solar projects which will be announced at the appropriate time,” said a statement cited by Saudi Press Agency.

The official said the Kingdom is moving forward with the overall renewable energy strategy through which Saudi Arabia aims to be a leading and reliable diversified supplier of renewable energy.

The ministry has laid down a plan to achieve a comprehensive transformation in the electricity sector. The plan comprises the following three elements:

1 - Restructuring the electricity market so as to upgrade competitiveness and raise its capability to attract investments from the private sector.

2 - Introduce a qualitative change in the energy blend being used in the Kingdom and its related technologies so as to add a large production capacity from the sources of renewable energy, most of which is from solar energy apart from wind energy.

3 - Investment in all the stages of the added value series in the electricity sector.