When Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman signed an MoU for a $200bn solar investment with Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japan’s SoftBank, at the end of March the solar power industry was stunned (MEES, 6 April).

‘Solar Power Project 2030’ is the largest solar project in the world. Two solar plants of 4.2GW and 3GW slated for 2019 launch would be just the first phase of a plan to install 200GW of solar capacity – more than double Saudi Arabia’s existing conventional generating capacity of around 90GW – by 2030, according to SPA news agency. The project is intended to use solar panels manufactured in Saudi Arabia. (CONTINUED - 927 WORDS)