Saudi Arabia energy consumption will continue to grow in the Kingdom by 8-10 per cent per year, compared to less than 1 per cent in Europe.
Faced with rising energy demand to meet economic growth, Saudi Arabia is turning to nuclear power to diversify production and generate electricity. The kingdom plans to build two large nuclear reactors under the program to build 16 nuclear reactors over the next 20 years at a cost of more than US $ 80 billion.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia energy consumption continued to grow, and the volume of applications was 62,000 megawatts, which required the introduction of nuclear energy as a means to meet the needs of the state and a population of 31 Million citizens. The costs of operating nuclear power are much lower than the cost of fossil fuels, and the nuclear fuel control unit produces more energy at a lower price.
Hamed al-Saqqaf, director of independent production projects at the Saudi Electricity Company believes that the move towards nuclear energy is in line with the vision of the Kingdom of 2030 , which involves diversification of the economy and energy .
Riyadh is currently selecting a company to build the country’s first nuclear power plant. US, Chinese, Russian, French and South Korean companies submitted bids for building two reactors.
