India's L&T ahead for NEOM $6.4-bn hydrogen renewables facilities: MEED

India's L&T ahead for NEOM $6.4-bn hydrogen renewables facilities: MEED
The contract covers the construction of 2,930 MW solar power generation plant, a 1,370 MW wind power farm and a 400 MW battery energy storage system. (File)
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Updated 29 May 2022

India's L&T ahead for NEOM $6.4-bn hydrogen renewables facilities: MEED

India's L&T ahead for NEOM $6.4-bn hydrogen renewables facilities: MEED

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's NEOM Green Hydrogen Co. is understood to have selected India's Larsen & Toubro to build solar and wind plants for supplying electricity to the city’s $6.4-billion green hydrogen-based ammonia plant, MEED reported.

ACWA Power, one of the three equity partners in NGHC along with Air Products and NEOM Co., is responsible for supplying the energy to the project. The Riyadh-based firm declined to comment on the news when contacted by Arab News.

According to MEED, L&T, along with Energy China and Power China, submitted a proposal for an engineering, procurement and construction contract to build the renewable energy infrastructure.

The contract covers the construction of 2,930 MW solar power generation plant, a 1,370 MW wind power farm and a 400 MW battery energy storage system, according to a source familiar with the plan.

The package also includes a 190-kilometer power transmission network. 

The planned wind and solar power plants are to be located in northwest Saudi Arabia in proximity to the hydrogen plant, which is to be built at OXAGON industrial zone in NEOM.


Bahrain GDP grows close to 5% in 2022; fastest pace in almost a decade 

Bahrain GDP grows close to 5% in 2022; fastest pace in almost a decade 
Updated 24 sec ago

Bahrain GDP grows close to 5% in 2022; fastest pace in almost a decade 

Bahrain GDP grows close to 5% in 2022; fastest pace in almost a decade 

RIYADH: Bahrain posted a real gross domestic product growth rate of 4.9 percent in 2022, the highest economic growth pace since 2013, its Ministry of Finance and National Economy announced in its annual economic report.  

The report also highlighted that Bahrain is steadily progressing in its economic diversification journey, as its non-oil real GDP witnessed 6.2 percent growth in 2022, the highest since 2012.  

The growth of Bahrain’s non-oil GDP in 2022 also surpassed the 5 percent annual target set by its economic recovery plan.  

Bahrain launched its multi-year five-pillar economic recovery plan in 2021, aiming to enhance the strength of the Kingdom’s economy, its long-term competitiveness, and its recovery post-pandemic.  

“The positive results posted today are the cumulation of many years of hard work and careful planning by the Government of Bahrain to lay the foundations for a sustainable, diverse, and prosperous economy,” said Bahrain’s Minister of Finance and National Economy Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. 

According to him, central to these efforts has been the comprehensive Economic Recovery Plan, launched in 2021, “which is an investment in our nation’s people, our businesses, and the future of Bahrain.” 

The program is touted to be Bahrain’s largest-ever reform program, with over $30 billion catalyzed for investment and significant labor market and regulatory reforms to improve the ease of doing business. 

Al Khalifa added: “These results are a statement of our intent to secure a balanced budget by 2024, provide long-term fiscal sustainability and create an economy that delivers for everyone across the Kingdom.”  

The annual report also revealed that Bahrain reported a drop in deficit to GDP to -1.1 percent, a drop in debt to GDP to 100 percent, and a primary surplus of 3.3 percent.  

In October 2022, speaking exclusively to Arab News, Khalid Humaidan, CEO of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, said that the country is benefitting from a high level of foreign direct investment, securing $921 million in the first nine months of 2022.  

He also added that the board has identified six priority sectors which include manufacturing, logistics, tourism, information and communications technology, financial services, and oil and gas.  

“We think if we focus on our priority projects, our priority sectors will be achieved, and we will be able to achieve other goals that we have in the economic recovery plan. Fiscal balance by the end of 2024 — we’ve committed to that target as a government, and that will happen by growing the non-oil GDP in the country,” said Humaidan.  


Alibaba to split into six units, explore IPOs

Alibaba to split into six units, explore IPOs
Updated 8 min 6 sec ago

Alibaba to split into six units, explore IPOs

Alibaba to split into six units, explore IPOs

RIYADH: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is planning to split its business into six main units covering e-commerce, media and the cloud, the company said on Tuesday, adding that each of the units will explore fundraising or initial public offerings.

US-listed shares of Alibaba rose 3.5 percent in trading before the bell.

The six units will include Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

Each of the six will be managed by its own CEO and board of directors.

Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which will follow a holding company management model, the company said in a statement.

Zhang will also serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group, as previously announced.


UAE signs deal with Israel to reduce tariffs

UAE signs deal with Israel to reduce tariffs
Updated 43 min 34 sec ago

UAE signs deal with Israel to reduce tariffs

UAE signs deal with Israel to reduce tariffs

RIYADH: The UAE and Israel have inked a custom cooperation deal to activate the pledge they signed in May 2022 to reduce tariffs on 96 percent of goods traded between the countries. 

The agreement aims to enable mutual assistance in ensuring the proper application of customs laws by accurately assessing customs and other tax fees on exports and imports as well as adjusting customs data. 

The new customs deal will take effect from April 1 and will permit Israeli companies to compete for government tenders in the UAE. 

Mohamed Al Khaja, the UAE’s Ambassador to Israel, and Eli Cohen, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed the agreement between the two countries in the presence of the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem. 

“The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Israel will serve as a major engine to strengthen economic and commercial ties between the UAE and Israel. We expect the agreement to produce significant mutual economic benefits,” Al Khaja said. 

The comprehensive agreement signed in May aimed to align customs between both countries and is expected to increase bilateral trade to more than $10 billion in the next five years. 

In 2022, the value of bilateral trade between Israel and the UAE grew to more than $2.5 billion –  an increase of more than 100 percent on the $1.2 billion in trade between the two countries in 2021, according to Israeli figures. 

The agreement includes food, medicine, diamonds, jewelry, fertilizers, and chemicals with most duties to be removed immediately and others to be phased out over three to five years. 

The trade deal with the UAE was Israel’s first with an Arab country, which comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region over the actions of Israel’s latest government, which has overseen a dramatic rise in Israeli-Palestinian violence with multiple Israeli incursions into Jenin and Nablus


Egypt signs $335.5m agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency 

Egypt signs $335.5m agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency 
Updated 45 min 53 sec ago

Egypt signs $335.5m agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency 

Egypt signs $335.5m agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency 

DUBAI: Egypt signed a 44 billion Japanese yen ($335.5 million) development financing agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency, to support Egypt's efforts to achieve comprehensive health coverage, a finance ministry statement said on Tuesday.


Oil Updates — Crude up; Russian oil and gas output to decline this year

Oil Updates — Crude up; Russian oil and gas output to decline this year
Updated 28 March 2023

Oil Updates — Crude up; Russian oil and gas output to decline this year

Oil Updates — Crude up; Russian oil and gas output to decline this year

RIYADH: Crude prices rose on Tuesday amid rising indications of strengthening demand in China.

Brent crude futures rose 34 cents or 0.44 percent to $78.46 a barrel at 11.30 a.m. Saudi time, while West Texas Intermediate US crude was up 45 cents, or 0.62 percent, to $73.26 a barrel.

China's crude oil imports are expected to rise 6.2 percent in 2023 to 540 million tons, according to an annual forecast by a research unit of China National Petroleum Corp. on Monday.

Russian oil and gas output to decline this year: Energy Minister

Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov said on Tuesday that the country had managed to successfully re-direct its oil exports to new markets, but that oil and gas production was expected to decline in 2023.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday that Russia needed to focus on boosting energy exports to so-called “friendly” countries, as he said Russian oil supplies to India jumped 22-fold last year.

Novak said energy revenues accounted for 42 percent of Russia’s federal budget in 2022 and added the country’s energy industry was sustainable, despite the challenges faced by Western sanctions.

BP, ADNOC offer to buy 50 percent of Israel’s NewMed Energy

BP and Abu Dhabi’s state oil giant on Tuesday made an offer to acquire 50 percent of Israeli offshore natural gas producer NewMed Energy for around $2 billion.

The offer would involve acquiring NewMed’s free-floating shares and taking the company private and would mark Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and BP’s entry into Israel’s growing energy sector.

ADNOC and BP said they intend to form a new joint venture as part of the deal that will be “focused on gas development in international areas of mutual interest including the East Mediterranean.”

NewMed is the largest stakeholder in the giant Leviathan offshore field, operated by Chevron, which produces 12 billion cubic meters of gas that are supplied to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

The field’s partners are planning to further expand its production and are also exploring plans for a liquefied natural gas terminal to further boost exports.

The offer is a further sign of the strengthening economic ties between Israel and the UAE since the two countries agreed to normalize ties in 2020.

(With input from Reuters)