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Viewing cable 10DHAHRAN18, SOLAR ENERGY PICKS UP MOMENTUM IN SAUDI ARABIA

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
10DHAHRAN18 2010-02-06 11:38 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Consulate Dhahran
VZCZCXRO8140
PP RUEHDH
DE RUEHDH #0018/01 0371138
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 061138Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL DHAHRAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0357
INFO RUEHHH/OPEC COLLECTIVE
RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0480
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAHRAN 000018 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EEB/ESC/IEC, NEA/ARP, AND S/CIEA 
DOE FOR ELKIND,HEGBURG,PERSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/6/2020 
TAGS: EPET ENRG ECON PGOV SA BA
SUBJECT: SOLAR ENERGY PICKS UP MOMENTUM IN SAUDI ARABIA 
 
REF: 09 DHAHRAN 150 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Joseph Kenny, Dhahran Consul General, Department 
of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
1. (U) The First Energy Bank of Bahrain plans to build a 
polysilicon plant in Saudi Arabia to serve an increasing demand 
for solar energy power generation in the Middle East.  The King 
Abdul Aziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) launched a 
major initiative to use its research facilities to develop solar 
energy and build solar-powered desalination plants in order to 
reduce water and energy costs by as much as 40 percent.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
 
POLYSILICON PRODUCTION EXPECTED IN 2013 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) The First Energy Bank of Bahrain plans to build a 
polysilicon plant in Saudi Arabia to serve an increasing demand 
for solar generated power in the Middle East.  (Note: 
Polysilicon is an essential raw material in the production of 
solar cells used in panels that convert sunlight to electricity 
for businesses, homes, and farms.  End Note.)  Reuters reports 
that the Bank is joining Project Management and Development Co. 
(PMD) in Saudi Arabia to build a factory in Jubail, which will 
cost approximately USD $1 billion.  The factory is expected to 
have an annual capacity of 7,500 tons of polysilicon with 
production set to begin in 2013.  Saudi Oil minister Ali 
al-Naimi has highlighted KSA's intent to be "the Saudi Arabia of 
solar power," and aims to make solar power a major component of 
Saudi energy supplies in the coming years. 
 
 
 
3. (C) On January 25 CG Dhahran and PolOff met with VP of Fluor 
Arabia Limited, the company contracted by PMD to handle the 
front-end engineering and construction management of the 
polysilicon plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.  This project is the 
first of its kind in KSA.  Fluor's execution plan is to have the 
front-end engineering design performed in Fluor's Greenville, 
South Carolina offices, where they have already completed 
similar projects.  Fluor VP expects this to not only maintain 
the jobs of those with the experience, but to add to Fluor's 
reputation as a world leader in the engineering and construction 
of polysilicon plants. 
 
 
 
SOLAR TO POWER DESALINATION INDUSTRY 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
4. (U) On January 24, the King Abdul Aziz City of Science and 
Technology (KACST) launched a major initiative to use its 
research facilities to develop solar energy and build 
solar-powered desalination plants in order to reduce domestic 
water and energy costs by as much as 40 percent.  (Note:  The 
new nanotechnology for using solar energy to operate 
desalination plants was developed by KACST in association with 
IBM.  End Note.)  As a result, the project is expected to 
significantly reduce the amount of oil and gas currently needed 
to power desalination plants.  At present, desalination plants 
on the Red Sea and the Gulf consume an estimated 1.5 million 
barrels of oil per day. 
 
 
 
5. (U) Though neither KACST nor the ministries involved have 
mentioned a specific date, the initiative will be carried out in 
several stages.  (Note:  KACST Vice President confirmed to 
EconCouns in Riyadh that the ministries of Finance, Water and 
Electricity, Commerce and Industry, and the Saline Water 
Conversion Corporation are all involved in the initiative, which 
will proceed in three phases over the next three years, building 
out from an initial pilot stage to full-scale implementation. 
As the KACST VP explained to EconCouns, KACST is using this 
project as the model for fourteen more Technology Implementation 
Centers it plans to create over the next five years.  End Note.) 
 The first plant will be a small 30,000 cubic meter per day 
facility in al-Khafji and is expected to serve 100,000 people. 
A 100,000 cubic meter per day facility will be built during the 
second phase with the expectation that, eventually, a network of 
plants will be built across the country.  (Comment:  These 
initial facilities are relatively small when compared to the 
880,000 cubic meter per day facility on KSA's West coast, the 
world's largest.  End Comment.) 
 
 
DHAHRAN 00000018  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
COMMENT 
 
------- 
 
6.  (C) Given the insatiable domestic consumption of energy, the 
Saudis are very concerned about the need for sustainability. 
Though rich with oil and gas, the two are heavily subsidized in 
KSA.  As a result, domestic demand is growing considerably (with 
no real incentives for conservation), in parallel with strong 
industrial growth and a rapidly growing population.  As such, 
the SAG is missing an opportunity to profit from the export of 
oil and gas.  The Saudis have said on numerous occasions in 
private meetings that the forgone opportunity cost is one they 
are willing to endure in the short term, as a repeal of 
subsidies is so politicized and could cause considerable social 
upheaval.  The development of alternative energy in Saudi 
Arabia, though at first counterintuitive, is actually a 
strategic necessity.  Again, subsidizing energy costs provides 
no incentives to conserve.  As such, demand will continue rising 
unchecked. 
 
 
 
7. (C) The advent of solar energy will have a positive impact, 
especially in the field of water desalination, as KSA reportedly 
supplies more than 18 percent of the world's desalinated water. 
Saudi Arabia's water consumption, too, is excessive, surpassing 
per capita European consumption rates by nearly double.  Aside 
from the precious nature of water in a desert environment, water 
is a depreciating resource as well, and thus a strategic 
concern.  Desalination is an effective method to maintain a 
consistent supply of water; but, it is taxing KSA's natural 
resources and hence the move to an alternative/additional energy 
source, though an expensive one (at least initially), is a 
necessary one.  This project is also a very important milestone 
in the Kingdom's efforts to create job-generating elements of a 
knowledge based economy, and is a further indication that the 
SAG is increasingly determined to play a major role in the 
world's solar power industry.  End Comment. 
CG: JKENNY