DESPARDES — Announcing that ‘We are moving ahead with our civil nuclear program’, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman also reaffirmed Kingdom’s commitment to diversifying its energy sources, telling the opening session of Misk Global Forum 2019 that an expanding renewable energy program will meet the country’s domestic requirements and even allow it to export electricity.
He said the Kingdom’s renewable energy program “will get us into manufacturing and exporting electricity.”
Prince Abdul Aziz added: “We have a new program, a ‘noble’ program, to create a new way of using oil and gas that is different from the conventional ways.”
“Saudi Arabia wants to develop a civil nuclear industry and renewable energy to free up oil burned to produce power for export. It is also selling its crude (on debt and equity basis) to refineries for value-addition of its black gold.
On civil nuclear, the kingdom is in talks with five vendors, including US-based Westinghouse, to build its first nuclear power plant with two reactors.
The other companies in the discussions are France’s EDF, Russia’s Rosatom, South Korea’s KEPCO and China National Nuclear Corp.
The kingdom is also focused on localization as part of Vision 2030.
Five Saudi authorities last month signed an agreement in Riyadh for the production of 10 million smart digital electricity meters intended for use within the Kingdom.
The deal seeks to support and promote local content and the development of electrical manufacturing in the Kingdom.
