RIYADH — Saudi Arabia and France signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding to establish a framework for collaboration in the energy sector.

Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman met with French Minister of Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna in Riyadh, and discussed prospects of cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and future opportunities in various energy fields, including renewable energy, clean hydrogen, and electricity interconnection.

The signed memorandum of understanding encourages cooperation between the two countries in the fields of electricity, renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, smart grids, oil and gas and their derivatives, refining, petrochemicals, and the distribution and marketing sectors.

This will further the collaboration in technologies, with an aim to mitigate the effects of climate change, such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) in hard-to-abate sectors, and the production of hydrogen, as well as other technological innovations.

The MoU also promotes cooperation in digital transformation, localization of materials, products and services in the energy supply chain, collaboration between companies in the energy sector, joint research in universities, research centers and other forums, as well as building human capacity through training and exchanging of experience in the energy sector. — SPA