CNN.com
Saudi to develop solar and nuclear power
By Abeer Allam in Riyadhc/div>
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Official: Saudi Arabia will need 8 million barrels a day by 2028 to meet
domestic energy needs
* That amount is roughly equivalent to its current production
* Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter
* Demand for electricity is expected to triple to 121,000 megawatts by 2032
Saudi Arabia will be burning most of its oil production domestically in less
than 20 years, if current consumption patterns persist, a senior official has
warned.
In response, the authorities plan to cut reliance on fossil fuel and develop an
alternative energy mix, including atomic and solar sources, as rising local
demand could dramatically curtail the kingdom's ability to export oil.
The world's largest oil exporter will need 8m barrels a day by 2028, roughly
equivalent to its current production, merely to meet domestic energy needs,
Hashim Yamani, president of the King Abdullah Atomic and Renewable Energy City,
said on the sidelines of a conference on Sunday. The kingdom currently burns a
total of 3.2m/b a day, he said.
"Oil exports and economic growth will be constrained if there is no mix of
alternative energy," Yamani said. "We won't be able to leverage prices of oil
to build our institutions."
Demand for electricity in the desert country is rising at an annual rate of 8
percent and is expected to triple to 121,000 megawatts by 2032, the government
has said. In the 2011 budget, the kingdom channeled SR500m ($133m) to renewable
energy.
Yamani said he expected to produce solar energy in commercial quantities
"sooner" than atomic power. The latter will take from 8-to-10 years, he said.
The kingdom, he said, is consulting with several countries on its nuclear plans
and will probably use a mix of US, French, British, Korean and Japanese
experience.
"We will not just buy or import institutions and sell energy," said Yamani, a
former commerce and trade minister. "We have to develop industries and research
related to alternative energy."
Saudi Arabia sits on a quarter of the world's oil reserves, but with no rivers
or lakes the desert kingdom is facing a challenge in keeping pace with rising
energy demand for power and desalinated water for industrial and home use.
Heavy subsidies also encourage waste.
Although the market price of oil averaged almost $70 a barrel last year, the
government sells oil for domestic use at $5 a barrel, according to the ministry
of water and electricity.
Since the kingdom announced plans to build a renewable energy city last April,
Western businessmen have been beating a path to Saudi Arabia, hoping to win
lucrative deals.
Pierre Lellouche, French secretary of foreign trade, is currently visiting
Riyadh, while Francisco Sanchez, U.S. undersecretary of commerce for
international trade, led a delegation of energy and infrastructure companies
last month.
On Sunday, Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of Areva, the French nuclear
reactor contractor, told reporters that her company will sign a partnership
agreement with Saudi Arabia's Binladin Group for nuclear and solar energy
cooperation.
© The Financial Times Limited 2011
Links referenced within this article
Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/01/24/saudi.energy.ft/index.html?hpt=T2
© 2008 Cable News Network.
------------------------------------
Post message: [email protected]
Subscribe : [email protected]
Unsubscribe : [email protected]
List owner : [email protected]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
