Saudi Arabia, France sign MoU in energy

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman met with his French counterpart, Agnes Pannier-Runacher in Riyadh on July 8.

The two signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their cooperation in energy, with a focus on clean energy from renewable resources.

In a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, France and Saudi Arabia agreed on an energy co-operation roadmap focusing on three pillars:

• Technology development: To advance work in clean hydrogen production and electricity produced from renewable technology. Deployment from production, transportation and conversion at demand centres.
• Business co-operation: The private sector has a critical role to play, the two countries welcome joint efforts between Saudi and French companies to partner in the entire energy supply chain to unlock business and hydrogen trade.
• Policies and regulation: The roadmap will further promote the development of the hydrogen industry through mutual recognition of certification framework including emission life cycle assessment from all possible sources necessary for consistency in international trade.

Energy cooperation

Both countries acknowledged the importance of advancing the implementation of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement in accordance with the principles, objectives and goals defined therein, including pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C.

Joint statement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of France for cooperation in the field of energy.https://t.co/PFnDaN8nAP#SPAGOV pic.twitter.com/DqjBxvbulD

— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) July 8, 2023

The joint communique acknowledged that in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C, clean hydrogen will play an essential role in mitigating the impact of climate change.

Additionally, both countries agreed to enhance cooperation in the field of electricity and exchange knowledge in the field of electricity generation from renewable energy resources, and grid interconnection projects, as well as encouraging the participation of private sectors in power sector projects including generation, transmission, distribution, storage and network automation technologies.

The two countries also agreed to engage in joint efforts to enhance energy efficiency, and to enhance their cooperation in the field of nuclear energy in a peaceful and safe framework, the management of radioactive waste and nuclear applications, and the development of human capabilities.

Both countries agreed to cooperate on advancing climate technologies and solutions including carbon capture utilisation and storage for hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, aviation, marine, and petrochemicals, among others.

The kingdom aims to become the leading exporter of hydrogen and electricity produced from low-emission resources globally, capitalising on its ability to produce hydrogen and electricity produced from low-emission resources at a competitive cost.

France and Saudi Arabia agreed to support the creation of a “French-Saudi Task-Force” to achieve concrete progress in de-carbonised hydrogen and achieving their respective renewable energy goals.