All Pomp And No Show? Saudi Dumps ‘World’s Largest’ $200 Billion Solar Energy Project With SoftBank

Saudi Arabia has put on hold a project with SoftBank Group worth $200 Billion, meant to build the world’s biggest solar-power-generation plant.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a 200 Gigawatt (GW) solar energy plant worth $200 Billion in Saudi Arabia on March 29, as reported by Bloomberg.

The country produces 77 GW of electricity with most of it coming from natural oil and gas resources, but are set to move towards solar power given the ample space and constant source of sunlight.

The plant was expected to hit capacity by 2030 and was the largest project ever announced of its type, with solar power generation globally standing at about 100 GW till last year, while creating close to 100,000 jobs in Saudi Arabia.

SoftBank had grown close to Saudi Arabia by setting up a tech fund totalling $100 billion. It also had plans to invest as much as $25 billion in Saudi Arabia over the span of 3-4 years along with a $15 billion investment in the Saudi prince’s Neom city project.

There was no one actively working on the project as the Saudi Kingdom was working on alternative strategies which are broader and more practical to boost renewable energy and is set to make an announcement late in October, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Softbank declined to comment.