Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih expected to include the nuclear energy projects in the Saudi electricity system within the next three or four years. He pointed out that the Kingdom is currently in the stage of beginning feasibility studies for nuclear power plants and qualifying the technologies from countries that are recognized for their progress and reliability in the field.
Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih said in a press statement after the inauguration of the Saudi Electricity Forum 2017, that the nuclear energy project is important economically and strategically, because it represents a sustainable source without relying on weather change, in contrary to wind or the solar, and the technologies are progressing in terms of reliability and safety and low cost . He pointed out that the global coalitions are now financing nuclear energy projects, and the kingdom has already received offers. “I think the time is still early to talk about the cost of buying electricity, but as in conventional and renewable energy projects, I am confident that the cost of electricity, which we will buy as a power grid from large-scale nuclear plants, will be the best and the most Competitive, and these stations will also be the best in terms of design, safety and reliability”. “We are now at the beginning of the feasibility and Environmental studies and the assessment of foreign technologies.
“Open competition, as in renewable energy, is the rule, we will of course look at the cost, but we will mostly follow the appropriate regulations, a strict regulatory supervision on the safety issue, and hope to have our first plant connected to the grid will in the next decade. We are talking about three or four years, “These projects usually take reasonable time to develop, and we will not rush in calculating the efficiency of the introduction of nuclear energy in the electricity system.
