Saudi, China sign nuclear cooperation deals

KHOBAR / Reuters­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Saudi Arabia and China are to cooperate on nuclear energy projects following discussions between the two countries on ways to support the kingdom’s nuclear energy
programme, state news agency SPA reported.
Saudi Arabia has been for years trying to diversify its energy mix so that it can export more of its oil, rather than burning it at power and water desalination plants. It launched a renewable energy programme this year with the announcement of the winning bid for its first utility-scale solar project due in November. In addition to that programme, Riyadh is in the early stages of feasibility and design studies for its first two commercial nuclear reactors, which will total 2.8 gigawatts.
China’s leading state nuclear project developer China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) has now signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) to promote further existing cooperation between the two sides to explore and assess uranium and thorium resources, SPA said.
The state-owned The Saudi Technology Development and Investment Co (Taqnia) signed a memorandum of understanding with China Nuclear Engineering Group Corp to develop water desalination projects using gas-cooled nuclear reactors.
In a separate report, SPA said Hashim Yamani, the president of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE), which is responsible for the country’s nuclear plans, met officials in China on Aug. 23-24. Their discussions included cooperation in areas such as pre-feasibility study to build the first two nuclear reactors in the kingdom, and exploration for uranium and thorium.
SPA said KACARE has also held meetings with suppliers of nuclear technology in the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia. It visited France end of July. Under an economic reform programme launched last year, Saudi Arabia is seeking to diversify away from oil for much of its additional future energy needs because oil resources are needed to generate revenue through exports.
Nuclear energy will help Saudi Arabia to develop water desalination plants, of which it is a leading producer. The kingdom and China signed in 2012 a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on the civilian use of nuclear energy.
Similar deals had already been signed with other countries including France, Argentina, Russia, the United States among others. Saudi Arabia has also set up a joint investment fund with China and signed 11 deals worth $20 billion with China as part of an official visit of Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli to Saudi Arabia.

RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET
Saudi Arabia aims to exceed its target to generate 9.5 gigawatts of electricity from renewable energy annually, to highlight its long-term commitment to green energy, a senior government official said. “We plan to exceed 9.5 gigawatts,” Turki al-Shehri, head of the energy ministry’s Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) told the Sino-Saudi investment forum in Jeddah.
“The whole idea of this is to give investors a sense of comfort that the Kingdom has a long-term vision for renewable energy,” he later told Reuters. The government has said it plans to generate 9.5 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable sources a year by 2023 through 60 projects, involving an estimated investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion.

Full ownership for investors in health, education
JEDDAH / Reuters

Saudi Arabia will allow foreign investors to take 100 percent ownership of companies in its health and education sectors, the head of the kingdom’s investment authority told Reuters. It is the latest move by the country to gradually ease ownership restrictions on foreign firms, which have previously been required to set up a joint venture with a local partner.
“We are opening up education centres to have ownership 100 percent, all types of education even from primary school. This is something new for Saudi,” Ibrahim al-Omar, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), said.
In the health sector, the ministry will “just be a regulator and not a service provider anymore”, said Omar. This will open up $180 billion of investment opportunities in that sector over the next five years, he said.
He did not say when the relaxation on foreign ownership would come into effect. The Saudi government, seeking to diversify the economy beyond oil exports amid a slump in oil prices, told Reuters in April that it was launching a privatisation programme that would raise more than $200 billion.
However, it has not so far clarified foreign ownership and operating rules in many sectors. Many private equity firms and other potential foreign investors say majority or full control of projects is important to allow them to cut costs and improve efficiency.
The government is studying whether to sell off all public hospitals and 200,000 pharmacies, and has begun the process for the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Vice Minister for Economy and Planning Mohammed
al-Tuwaijri said in April.