Saudi Arabia will launch a renewable energy program in coming weeks that is expected to involve investment of between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2023, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday. Falih, speaking at World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, said Saudi Arabia would start the first round of bidding within weeks for projects under the program, which would produce 10 gigawatts of power. In addition to the program, Saudi Arabia is in the early stages of studying its first two commercial nuclear reactors with a total output of up to 2.8 gigawatts, Falih said. Falih said that there would be significant investment in nuclear energy. Falih told the conference Saudi Arabia was working on ways to connect its renewable energy projects with Yemen, Jordan and Egypt. "We will connect to Africa to exchange non-fossil sources of energy," he said. Falih said that the kingdom was committed to a global agreement between oil producers to cut production. Falih's remarks came in response to a question about, Saudi Arabia's pledge to produce less than 10 million barrels a day for several months to come. Last week, Falih said that Saudi oil production had fallen below 10 million barrels per day which means that it had cut production by more than 486,000 barrels per day as agreed upon between the producers at the end of last year. Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil exporter leads OPEC's drive to eradicate a global glut and prop up prices.
