Climate Finance | February 1, 2017

Will oil riches finance the clean-energy transition?

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Climate Finance

Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state oil company and the world’s largest company, is seeking $5 billion in renewable energy deals as part of its $50 billion commitment to get 30 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2030.

That kind of mandate has banks like HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse eager to show their green-energy chops.

Still, the Saudi commitment is a fraction of the $163 billion commitment by the United Arab Emirates, which is aiming to generate close to 50 percent of its energy from renewables by 2050.

The UAE already has given the go-ahead to Marubeni Corp. to build the world’s largest solar plant, a $868 million, 1.18 gigawatt solar farm in the desert. At 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour, Marubeni’s solar-energy bid was among the lowest-ever.

Photo credit: Apicum Group