The Government of Saudi Arabia and the Government of France have formalized their commitment to a long-term partnership centered around energy by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Recognizing energy as a fundamental aspect of their bilateral cooperation, both countries emphasize their shared goals and aspirations.
Acknowledging the significance of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, Saudi Arabia and France pledge to advance their implementation in line with the established principles, objectives, and goals, including the pursuit of limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C.
With climate change and the promotion of secure, reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy supplies as common strategic priorities, the two nations also underscore the importance of clean hydrogen as a crucial fuel in achieving sustainable economic development while addressing climate change.
In addition to cooperation in the field of electricity, both countries have agreed to exchange experiences in renewable energy generation, grid interconnection projects, and the active involvement of the private sector in various power sector projects encompassing generation, transmission, distribution, storage, and network automation technologies.
Moreover, both nations commit to advancing climate technologies and solutions, including carbon capture utilization and storage, specifically targeting hard-to-abate sectors like cement, aviation, marine, and petrochemicals.
Saudi Arabia, with its abundant resources of renewable energy, natural gas, and carbon sinks, envisions becoming a leading global exporter of hydrogen and low-emission electricity by capitalizing on its competitive cost advantage and strategic geographic location in close proximity to major global demand centers.
France’s decarbonized hydrogen development strategy aims to significantly contribute to industry and transportation decarbonization. It encompasses a public investment program, France 2030, designed to accelerate investment and innovative solutions in sectors where France excels, with the goal of increasing renewable power capacity to over 100GW by 2050, including more than 40GW from offshore wind farms.
Recognizing their mutual commitment to hydrogen and electricity produced from low-emission and renewable resources, both countries join forces in their pursuit of innovative solutions for efficient and competitive hydrogen production, as well as its utilization across various sectors such as industry, mobility, power generation, buildings, and other pertinent applications.
To drive this collaboration forward, Saudi Arabia and France have established a hydrogen cooperation and renewable resource-generated electricity roadmap, focusing on technology development, business cooperation, and policies and regulations. These pillars will foster advancements in technology deployment, encourage private sector engagement, and promote industry development through a harmonized certification framework, ensuring consistency in international trade.
To maximize the utilization of local resources and enhance energy supply flexibility and effectiveness, both nations will work together to develop and sustain supply chains within the energy sector. This will be accomplished through enabling cooperation between companies and the creation of a “French-Saudi Task Force” dedicated to achieving desired outcomes in the field of hydrogen and other domains of collaboration.
