Saudi Arabia’s sustainable energy solutions demand setting up an integrated economic system for atomic and renewable energy for the generation of electricity and water desalination.

“The solution also requires the setting up of an industrial sector, with focus on utilities, financing, designing engineering, administration, maintenance and operation, and commissioning, besides a support system,” said Hashim bin Abdullah Yamani, president of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE).

He was inaugurating a two-day forum on sustainable energy.

The forum is themed ‘Toward a sustainable economy.’

Addressing the forum, Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah unveiled plans to increase the number of industrial cities to 40 with more than 160 million square meters of land in the next three years.

“An investor will be able to rent industrial land for long periods starting at the rate of SR 1 per square meter for a year and get soft loans reaching up to 75 percent of the capital and customs duty exemption in addition to loans from the Saudi Credit Bank up to 100 percent of SMEs,” he added.

Al-Rabiah said the need to ensure energy supplies in a sustainable manner was the main reason for setting up KACARE, which is leading toward sustainable economic development by adopting a national industrial strategy.

The strategy also aims to establish a special administrative machinery for localizing sustainable industry.

Yamani said Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah had entrusted the City with the responsibility of building a reliable system for the generation of atomic and renewable energy and preserving hydrocarbon fuel utilized for power generation and water desalination.

Yamani said development of the value chain and adapting it to the Saudi economy in a successful manner is one of the major elements of the strategic move in the energy sector.

A detailed study conducted by the city has shown that the Kingdom can nationalize more than 60 of the total investments that are allocated for building three atomic energy systems in the national economy and 80 percent of the total investments that will be allocated for building the country’s future energy system, he said.

He said various studies had revealed that the Kingdom’s solar energy sources are the world’s best, especially in the country’s northwest.

The Kingdom also has found excellent locations for wind energy in the western regions on the Red Sea coast. He said three locations have been identified for thermal energy production in the western coastal region.

The municipal waste is another promising source of energy, he pointed out.

Labor Minister Adel Fakeih told the forum that the ministry’s cooperation with KACARE is aimed at increasing the Saudization of SMEs, especially in their value added sectors.

“The sustainable energy sector, especially renewable energy, suits the vision of the ministry to develop the SMEs’ sector, which plays a major role in the economy and creates plenty of job opportunities in different parts of the Kingdom,” Fakeih added.