SoftBank joins hands with Saudi Arabia's wealth fund to frame solar energy plan for the kingdom

BENGALURU: SoftBank has joined hands with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF) to frame a 'Solar Energy Plan 2030' for the kingdom and set up a giant 3000 MW solar project there. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between SoftBank Vision Fund and PIF was signed on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative, held in Riyadh from October 24-26 and attended by business and investment leaders from all over the world.

The energy plan will set out a new framework for developing Saudi Arabia’s solar sector, while the solar project will be executed by Saudi Electric Company (SEC) in which PIF has 74.3% stake. SoftBank is also likely to acquire a significant minority stake in SEC. The joint venture will also look for opportunities to set up solar equipment manufacturing and battery manufacturing ecosystems in Saudi Arabia.

"Rapid technology advancement and scale have transformed solar power into an attractive source of electricity," said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group Corp. "As the kingdom is blessed with limitless sunshine we are excited to work together with PIF and SEC."

Apart from the SoftBank Vision Fund, PIF and SoftBank are also launching a joint research project to explore how robotic systems can be better incorporated into business and government.