Oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia and the European Commission have met in Riyadh to discuss a potential agreement to collaborate on renewable power, clean energy technology and carbon capture.
European Union Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud “reaffirmed how Saudi Arabia and the EU share a strong determination to accelerate private investment into renewable energy and to cooperate on electricity interconnection and the integration of renewables into the electricity grid, through the further strengthening of the electricity infrastructure e.g. via demand side management smart grid and grid resilience and security measures, hydrogen and clean tech sectors, including carbon capture, utilization and storage, underpin opportunities for industrial partnerships in those sectors, and ensure affordable, secure and future-proof energy markets”, a joint statement said.
“To this end, building on the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement and the outcome of recent COPs, Saudi Arabia and the European Commission held talks in view of a Saudi-EU Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation cementing their shared ambition to accelerate actions to reap the economic opportunities offered by their respective energy transitions”.
“Such an MoU, covering many energy sectors and with the energy transition at its core, should provide a solid and mutually beneficial basis for orienting and anchoring investment decisions in the energy and clean tech sectors, involve and mobilize stakeholders from the public, private and financial sectors, and lay the foundation for a more sustainable and secure energy future, underpinned by predictable and stable energy markets ensuring access to secure, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all”, added the statement, shared on the websites of the Commission and the kingdom’s Energy Ministry.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
The Saudi energy minister previously had been quoted expressing opposition to the agreement reached at the 28th COP, the United Nations’ main climate forum held at the end of 2023 in the United Arab Emirates, to gradually eliminate fossil fuels from the world’s energy mix. “What is there now, the issue of immediate and gradual disposal [of fossil fuels] has been buried”, Abdulaziz told Dubai-based news website Al Arabiya in an interview published December 13 referring to the final COP28 agreement, called the UAE Consensus.
Al Arabiya wrote, attributing the minister, “Riyadh supported the final COP28 deal as it leaves countries to decide for themselves on suitable pathways to transition to cleaner sources of energy”.
“The pharaoh methodology of dictating things has been buried, and so people are free in their choices”, Abdulaziz was quoted as saying.
The UAE Consensus, which lays out all agreements reached at COP28, included “an unprecedented reference to transitioning away from all fossil fuels to enable the world to reach net zero by 2050”, said a statement December 13 from host the UAE, providing no timeline.
“Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end”, said United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in his closing speech at the forum. “Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay”.
The EU had expressed support for the fossil fuel phasedown agreed at COP28, as well as joined dozens of countries at the gathering in agreeing to raise the global installed renewable capacity to at least 11,000 gigawatts by 2030.
Saudi Arabia was not a signatory to the statement of pledge for the renewables target. However, the government issued a statement December 4 in conjunction with COP28 saying the kingdom has raised its installed renewable capacity by 300 percent to 2,800 megawatts compared to 2022.
Saudi Arabia has set a goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2060, while the EU aims to achieve that by 2050.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.