Eric Watkins
Oil Diplomacy Editor
Before last week's meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Saudi officials sure weren't talking much about oil.
"Saudi Arabia is moving away from being a gas station of the world toward a sophisticated laboratory of excellence, innovation, and knowledge," said Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah A. Zainal Alireza.
That was the week's keynote, as even Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali I. Al-Naimi talked up Saudi efforts to diversify away from oil into solar energy.
Also underlining the importance of education, Al-Naimi spoke at Poland's University of Garniczo-Hutnicza for Sciences and Technology where he was awarded an honorary PhD.
Al-Naimi highlighted the partnership between the Polish university and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, a graduate-level research university built at Thuwal just north of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.
Pivotal role
The Saudi minister said the two universities will play a pivotal role in the field of sustainability of basic energy, noting especially the role played by the University of Garniczo-Hutnicza toward making oil a more secure source of energy.
While confirming that fossil fuels will continue to meet most of the world's needs of energy over the coming decades, Al-Naimi also said Saudi Arabia has broaden its scope to include other sources of energy, including solar power.
Remarkably enough, Al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia plans eventually to generate solar electricity equaling the amount of its energy from it exports of oil.
In fact, the minister said that Saudi Arabia—now the world's largest oil exporter—has the potential by 2020 to produce enough solar power to meet more than four times global demand for electricity.
His remarks coincided with an announcement by state-owned Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) and Showa Shell Sekiyu that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a 500-kw solar power plant on Farasan Island.
Solar frontier
Showa Shell Sekiyu subsidiary Solar Frontier installed solar photovoltaics panels on the Saudi island and will soon start production at the pilot plant.
"We estimate that the annual output of the Farasan plant will be 864,000 kwh," said Ali Al-Barrak, SEC president and chief executive officer, adding, "and our work with Solar Frontier gives us great confidence in the potential of solar energy in the SEC energy resource mix."
Saudi Aramco itself, as Al-Naimi noted, recognizes the need. If that's the case, then many countries far less endowed with natural resources may wish to consider the Saudi handwriting on the wall: it's time to add to the mix. Or, in a single word: diversify.
Solar? That was a mouthful ahead of the OPEC meeting.
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