SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman unveiled plans for a absolutely massive energy infrastructure project idea that would cost around $200b but would produce up to 200-gigawatts of energy for the country. This project would only use three resources: solar panels, a section of the expansive Saudi desert, and the sun. According to the founder of the company that would undertake the endeavor, it would create 100,000 jobs and shave $40 billion off power costs in the country.
If we look at Saudi Arabia’s economy, we can see that their economy sits at about 85% petroleum (71% crude, 10.85% refined, >3% other). This has been recognized as a problem due to the future expecting to have a lesser tie to petroleum products for energy and instead turning to renewables and natural gas. The Saudi Prince’s ambitions for renewables is very important for Saudi Arabia’s future in the energy economy as well as her own energy upkeep. Along with economic benefits, the switch to solar energy would be a big win for the environment if other forms of energy mining were lessened.