MANAMA: Economic growth, a rising population and sustained periods of low energy prices have driven high power-demand growth in Saudi Arabia. Despite recent increases in energy prices and efforts to improve energy efficiency, the country still needs an additional 34GW of generation capacity by 2020, according to APICORP Energy Research June 2016.
The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) was established in 2010 to develop renewable and nuclear energy for the country. To date, KACARE has signed preliminary agreements with South Korea, China, France, and Russia. The Kingdom’s initial nuclear plan aimed to produce 18GW of power by 2032, accounting for 14% of total demand (1 23GW). The recent announcement of the Saudi 2030 Vision revised down these plans.
The new plan is to install 3GW of nuclear by 2030, 1.5GW in the Eastern region and 1 .5GW in the Western region. These plans have not been officially announced and much obscurity surrounds the body that will implement the programme, with indications that KACARE will be dissolved and a new entity will take over the country’s new renewable and nuclear programme.
One clear trend in the development of the nuclear industry in MENA states is the major role played by Russia. Rosatom is involved to a greater or lesser extent in five of the six MENA nuclear or would-be nuclear power-producing states. Only the UAE is relying exclusively on South Korea to develop its sector.
The Russian state firm in late 2014 agreed to construct a 1 GW plant in Algeria – the target date for completion is 2029. The Russians also agreed to train Algerians and facilitate the activities of the Algerian Nuclear Engineering Institute. In Egypt, agreements were signed with Russia in November 2015 for the construction of four 1 .2GW nuclear plants at Dabaa in the Nile Delta, 120km north of Cairo. The first unit will cost $8bn and is due for completion in 2022. Russia will fund the first unit through a 35-year soft loan. In Tunisia, Rosatom also signed a memorandum of understanding in 2014 to support the development of nuclear energy infrastructure and the formation of joint working groups to determine joint projects
Finding the right sites to locate nuclear plants is also a problem given cooling requirements and security risks. Aqaba, on the Red Sea, was an obvious choice for Jordan, with seawater on hand for cooling; but was eventually rejected on environmental grounds. In Saudi Arabia, three possible sites were identified, two on the Red Sea coast (Jizan and Tabuk) and one on the Gulf. The relative proximity of Jizan to the border with Yemen will rule it out because of the ongoing conflict in that country.
