Rosatom Signs Deal on Potential Construction of Wind Farms in Saudi Arabia

Moscow and Riyadh could cooperate on building wind farms in Saudi Arabia.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Rosatom's international branch on Wednesday said it will cooperate with Saudi Al-Yamama Group on potential projects in the construction of wind farms in Saudi Arabia as well as on supplying the Russian corporation’s equipment for the Saudi petrochemical industry,

“Rusatom International Network and the Saudi company Al-Yamama for Trading and Contracting signed a Memorandum of Understanding … The Memorandum affirmed the parties’ commitment to exploring opportunities for cooperation in areas such as wind farm construction and operation projects in Saudi Arabia, as well as supplying ROSATOM subsidiaries’ equipment for Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical industry,” Rusatom’s statement read.

The document was signed by Rusatom’s President Alexander Merten on Russia’s side and President of Al-Yamama Group Abdul Hakim Hamad A. Alkhaldi on the Saudi side, within the framework of the IXth International Forum Atomexpo 2017.

“The parties agreed to continue consultations involving Rosatom subsidiaries’ representatives in order to identify an appropriate format and specific areas of cooperation,” according to the statement.

Rosatom considers wind energy projects to be one of the most promising of their non-nuclear growth projects. The state corporation estimated that the wind energy market in Russia could reach a turnover of about 200 billion rubles a year ($3.3 billion) by 2024. In July 2016, Rosatom announced that the company plans to build three wind farms in Russia with a total capacity of 610 MW. This amounts to about 17 percent of the total wind power capacity planned to be commissioned in Russia until 2024.

The IXth International Forum Atomexpo 2017 is being held on June 19-21 in Moscow at the Gostiny Dvor Exhibition Center and features an exhibition of leading Russian and international nuclear power companies. Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is a general media partner of the event.