Oct 2

First solar power plant opens in Farasan

An array of solar panels are seen at the Farasan solar plant in Jazan. (SPA)

Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Suwayed, undersecretary of Jazan governorate, on Saturday inaugurated the first solar energy plant in the Kingdom to generate electricity with a capacity of 500 kilowatts.

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) established the plant in collaboration with Japanese Showa Shell. SEC's Chief Executive Officer Ali Saleh Al-Barrak, Saudi Aramco President Khalid Al-Falih and the Japanese Ambassador to the Kingdom Shigeru Endo attended the inauguration.

The establishment of the solar power plant comes in line with SEC's efforts to introduce clean energy and save the transfer of equivalent of 28,000 barrels of diesel to the Farasan Island, southwest Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia hopes to reduce its use of fossil fuels that it would rather export by building nuclear and renewable power plants. The Farasan project should reduce diesel burning for power generation on the island.

Under the agreement, Showa Shell will own the project for up to 15 years, after which the assets will be transferred to SEC. Royal Dutch Shell owns one-third (33.24%)of Showa Shell, while Saudi Aramco holds about 14.96 percent.

昭和シェル、サウジで初の太陽光事業開始

昭和シェル石油は１日、サウジアラビア電力公社、国営石油会社サウジアラムコと共同で同国初となる太陽光発電事業をスタートした。サウジ南西部沖のファラサン島に立地した出力500キロワットの発電所の運転を開始。２万人の住民向けに電力供給を実証することで、今後の同国内での再生可能エネルギー本格普及への基盤づくりをする。

　同日、同島で開いた発電施設の竣工式には昭和シェル石油の新井純社長らが出席。新井社長は「これを機に石油取引だけでなく、再生可能エネルギー分野での協力を一層拡充させたい」と表明した。

　世界最大の産油国サウジは国内での原油消費を節約し輸出に回そうと、再生可能エネルギーの普及を目指している。昭和シェルは2009年、同社と資本関係を持つサウジアラムコと太陽光発電事業の推進で合意。全額出資子会社ソーラーフロンティアを通じてサウジ側と発電施設建設を進めていた。

　昭和シェルにとっては新興国での太陽光発電事業で実績を上げる好機。人口増や産業多角化に伴う電力需要増への有効策として再生可能エネルギーを重視するサウジと利益が一致した格好だ。

サウジ電力会社と昭和シェル石油、サウジアラビアにおける500キロワット規模の太陽光発電所の完成を間近に控えてMOUを締結

ソーラーフロンティア、昭和シェル石油、経済産業省、サウジ電力会社、ファラサン島のパイロット・プラント建設で開発協力を強化

昭和シェル石油は2009年6月、15％の大株主であるサウジアラムコと、サウジアラビア王国内において太陽光を活用した小規模分散型発電事業の可能性の調査を開始することに合意したと発表した。

太陽光発電のパイロットプラントを建設し小規模独立型電力系統（マイクログリッド）への繋ぎ込みなどの技術検討を行い、この結果を受けて同国内での本格的な事業化へ移行する計画。

2010/10/28

ソーラーフロンティア、10メガワットのCISモジュールをサウジアラムコのノースパーク・プロジェクトに供給
～中東における供給拡大に向け、サウジアラビア王国の大規模太陽光発電所にモジュールを本格供給～

ソーラーフロンティア株式会社は、サウジアラビア王国の国営石油会社であるサウジアラムコに対し10メガワットのCIS薄膜太陽電池モジュールを供給することに合意しましたのでお知らせします。この合意にもとづき、サウジアラビア王国Dhahran市にあるサウジアラムコのオフィス複合施設「ノースパーク・コンプレックス」へ電力を供給するため、敷地内の駐車場の屋根上にカドミウムや鉛を含まないCIS薄膜太陽電池モジュールを設置します。完成は2011年末を予定しており、太陽電池が設置された駐車場として世界最大規模となる見込みです。

今回のプロジェクトへの参画により、ソーラーフロンティアは、サウジアラビア王国においてCIS太陽電池モジュールを本格的に供給することになります。モジュールは車両4,450台収容の駐車場（16～18ヘクタール）の屋根上に設置され、発電電力は敷地内のオフィスビルで日中に使用される全ての電力量を賄うことができます。なお、発電が見込まれる電力量は一般家庭6,000戸分の電力に相当します。

サウジアラビア王国は、一日あたりの日照時間が12時間と長く、エネルギー量にすると1㎡あたり7キロワット時であり、これは「太陽の国」と言われているスペインを上回ります。そのため、太陽光事業には最適の地と言えます。

サウジアラムコは、このプロジェクトを通じて、エネルギーの節約を図るとともに、太陽光エネルギーの需要が拡大すれば国内のエネルギー産業への影響が拡大すると述べています。駐車場における太陽光発電事業は、エネルギー節約のための有効な方法として認知されていることなどから、屋根付きの駐車場に太陽電池モジュールを設置することを決めました。

ソーラーフロンティアは、CIS太陽電池モジュールの高い発電性能を生かし、中東諸国の厳しい環境下における太陽光エネルギーのニーズに応えていきます。また、今回のプロジェクトでは砂漠地域におけるCIS太陽電池モジュールの発電優位性を実証するとともに、プロジェクトを通じて得られた知見を、中東諸国をはじめとした世界各地の厳しい環境下における太陽光発電プロジェクトに活用していきます。

10メガワットのCIS薄膜太陽電池を供給し、ダーラン市にある同施設に電力を供給するため、敷地内の駐車場の屋根に設置します。2011年末に運転開始を予定しており、砂漠地域の厳しい環境におけるCIS薄膜太陽電池の発電優位性を実証し、環境の厳しい地域における発電プロジェクトに活かしていきます。

ISACC is the pre-incorporation legal entity to develop and form Khair Inorganic Chemical Industries Co. "InoChem", a Saudi investment being founded by IDEA International for Investment and Development Company, MEDA Chemical Group , and a group of businessmen and major investment companies. InoChem will own, construct, and operate a greenfield Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride Industrial Complex in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. The Project, which is scheduled to start up early 2018, will be the first producer of Soda Ash in the GCC and the largest producer of both Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride in the MENA region.

Since the conceptualization of the project, ISACC has taken various steps and commissioned several studies (technical, financial and market) on Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride to establish the feasibility of the project in Saudi Arabia. The Project development is now at an advanced stage and all the necessary industrial licenses, project land, natural gas, heavy fuel oil, and utilities allocation have been secured. All licenses and allocations obtained by ISACC for the purposes of the Project will be novated to InoChem upon its formation.

The industrial complex will include a factory for the production of 300,000 tons of Soda Ash, which considered the first of its kind in the Gulf region and the largest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The complex also includes a calcium chloride plant that is considered the largest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons. InoChem will also include advanced processing and recycling units to ensure achieving highest level of environmental protection standards and cost optimization. It will be developed in accordance with the best international standards in such industry, achieving the highest level of safety, health, environmental protection and quality standards.

Saudi Arabia’s soda ash consumption is expected to reach about 627,000 tons annually by 2018 (394,000 tons in 2013 actual) and about 187,000 tons of calcium chloride (165,000 tons in 2013 actual), both of which are currently being imported from abroad. Soda Ash is used in the manufacturing of glass, detergents, and inorganic chemicals, while calcium chloride is mainly used in the drilling and exploration of oil and gas fields.

Saudi Arabia and SoftBank Group Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding to build a $200 billion （約21兆円）solar power development that’s exponentially larger than any other project.

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, known for backing ambitious endeavors with flair, unveiled the project Tuesday in New York at a ceremony with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The powerful heir to the throne of the world’s largest crude exporter is seeking to diversify the economy and wean off a dependence on oil.

At 200 gigawatts, the project planned for the Saudi desert would be about 100 times larger than the next biggest proposed development, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“It’s a huge step in human history,” Prince Mohammed said. “It’s bold, risky and we hope we succeed doing that.”

Son said he envisions the project, which runs the gamut from power generation to panel and equipment manufacturing, will create as many as 100,000 jobs and shave $40 billion off power costs. The development will reach its maximum capacity by 2030 and may cost close to $1 billion a gigawatt, he said.

“The kingdom has great sunshine, great size of available land and great engineers, great labor, but most importantly, the best and greatest vision,” Son told reporters at a briefing.

The agreement deepens SoftBank’s ties with the Saudi Arabia, and advances the crown prince’s ambition to diversify its economy.

“SoftBank seeks investment and Saudi needs energy, so it may make sense to sort the financing out in a large block and then separately hammer out the phases and the technical details,” said Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at BNEF. “It is worth noting that many of these memorandums of understanding do not result in anything happening. ”

SoftBank was said to be planning to invest as much as $25 billion in Saudi Arabia over the next three to four years. That’s a boost for Prince Mohammed, who’s been at the forefront of the Vision 2030 campaign to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil by that year. SoftBank is said to have aimed to deploy as much as $15 billion in a new city called Neom, which the crown prince plans to build on the Red Sea coast.

The Japanese company’s Vision Fund is also said to plan investments of as much as $10 billion in state-controlled Saudi Electricity Co. as part of efforts to diversify the utility into renewables and solar energy.

Son, who is known as a savvy investor with a flair for the spotlight, has been promoting clean energy since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and recently completed a 50-megawatt wind power farm in Mongolia. He has also pushed a plan dubbed “Asia Super Grid,” a plan to connect Asian nations by grids and undersea cables to distribute clean energy.

The kingdom’s deal-making has quickened as it pursues Prince Mohammed’s diversification goals. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, which has more than $224 billion in assets, spent about $54 billion on investments last year. The sale of about a 5 percent stake in oil giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is expected to provide more funds.

Saudi Arabia also plans to build at least 16 nuclear reactors over the next 25 years at a cost of more than $80 billion. Electricity demand in the country has risen by as much as 9 percent a year since 2000, according to BNEF.

2018/12/6　

Saudi Sipchem, Sahara sign binding deal for merger

Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) and Sahara Petrochemical Co. have entered into a legally binding agreement governing the terms and conditions for implementing a business merger of equals, the companies said in separate bourse statements.

Sipchem will be making a recommended offer to acquire all the issued shares in Sahara in exchange for the issuance of new shares in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and Companies Regulations.

A total of 366.67 million new Sipchem shares will be issued for Sahara shareholders at an exchange ratio of about 0.84 new Sipchem shares for each share of Sahara.

Sipchem’s capital is going to increase to 733.33 million shares after the conclusion of the deal, whereby Sahara shareholders will own 366.67 shares of the new company representing 50 percent of total capital.

Ahmed Alohali, the current CEO of Sipchem, will hold the same position at the new combined group, while Saheh Bahamdan, Sahara’s current chief executive, will be the operations manager.

Both parties have agreed to withhold cash dividend from the date of the implementation until the completion of the deal unless the distribution policy matches the ones approved at the time. In that case, dividend distributed for the second half of 2018 shouldn’t exceed SAR 240 million for each company’s shareholders.

The distributing company will also have to meet the statutory reserve requirements and any other required reserves.

Both parties will negotiate in good faith, distributing dividend to their shareholders if the deal is not concluded by June 30, 2018, to avoid any changes to the swap agreement.

Upon completion of the transaction, Sahara shares will be delisted from Tadawul and will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sipchem, the statement added.

On Oct. 3, Sipchem and Sahara signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to carry out a merger, whereby the former will fully acquire the latter via share swap, Argaam previously reported.

Softbank to Build World’s Biggest Solar Park in Saudi Arabia