Eight Spanish companies involved in alternative energy are in Saudi Arabia to discuss the country’s willingness to invest in solar energy.
“The Spanish companies realize that Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the world generating energy from oil and it is important to look for alternatives,” said Juan Burdeil, economic attaché at the Spanish Embassy.
The Spanish companies want to enter the market through joint cooperation with Saudi companies to establish solar energy ventures to cover local demand and export abroad. They may also open local branches if the environment is right.
At a meeting organized by the Spanish economic delegation on Sunday, Burdiel said industrial representatives have discovered many investment opportunities in the renewable and clean energy sector.
These companies would be interested in Saudi firms and assess information at the King Abdullah City for Nuclear and Renewable Energy to establish the total volume that is required and that can be provided. This is in addition to the scope of economic cooperation with the Saudi-Spanish Business Council.
He said there are nine joint investment projects with the Spanish in Saudi Arabia estimated at $ 143 million (SR 536 million). Studies conducted by the International Energy Authority in Paris predict that Saudi Arabia would require an increased demand on oil for local use in the next 20 years and that a transition toward alternative energy would limit the effect on the country’s petroleum exports.
President of the Saudi-Spanish Council Abdullah Al-Rasheed said a three-point plan was drawn up to increase economic and investment cooperation and increase commercial exchange between Spain and Saudi Arabia at 7.5 million euros (SR 37 million) in the next three years.
Saudi Arabia is the third biggest Arab trade partner of Spain and ranks 12th in terms of exports outside the European Union.
Spanish firms seek to invest in solar energy
