27 November 2019, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) – ROSATOM held a workshop on Russian nuclear technologies for representatives of Saudi companies based in the west of the country. The workshop was held at the venue of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and under its support.
In the welcoming speech Alexander Voronkov, director of Rosatom Middle East and North Africa Regional center, said: “The realization of an NPP construction project is a large and complex task, the success of which largely depends on the quality of your relationship with local suppliers. This is why Rosatom pays special attention to creating networks and building relationships with local companies in the countries where our projects are implemented. This is a third workshop for representatives of the business community in Saudi Arabia we’ve organized for the last year, which fully reflects our strong interest in establishing fruitful cooperation with local businesses. We are convinced that cooperating with local suppliers not only increases the possibility of implementing NPP projects, but also generally contributes to the growth of business activity in the country and the region.”
The workshop consisted of presentations from representatives of Rusatom Overseas (part of ROSATOM). Workshop participants learned about Russia’s Generation 3+ VVER reactors and the details Russia’s proposal on building high-capacity nuclear power plants in Saudi Arabia. A significant part of the presentations was devoted to questions on local procurement, namely opportunities for Saudi companies to participate in the implementation of nuclear energy projects. In the second part of the workshop a B2B session with Rosatom representatives was held.
The Jeddah workshop is the third such event organized by Rosatom in the framework of the competitive dialogue for selection of a vendor to build high-capacity nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia. Previous workshops were held in Riyadh and Dammam.
About ROSATOM
ROSATOM is a global technological leader with the necessary resources and competencies for successful operations in all parts of the nuclear energy production chain from uranium mining to decommissioning and safe nuclear waste disposal. ROSATOM is the largest energy producer in Russia, supplying almost 19% of the country’s energy needs. With 36 units in 12 countries at different stages of implementation, the company ranks first in the world in foreign project development. It also ranks first in the world for uranium enrichment, second for uranium reserves, and fourth for production, accounting for 17% of the global nuclear fuel market. The State Corporation unites more than 400 enterprises and organizations, including the world’s only nuclear icebreaker fleet. The company’s workforce is made up of a total of 250 thousand people.
To date, ROSATOM has successfully passed two qualifying stages in competitive dialogue to build a high-capacity nuclear power plant in Saudi Arabia. In the summer of 2015, Russia and Saudi Arabia concluded an intergovernmental cooperation agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In October 2017, Rosatom and King Abdullah Nuclear and Renewable Energy Research Center signed an agreement that defined various areas of cooperation between the two bodies, amongst them research on/the construction of small and medium-sized reactors, the development of nuclear infrastructure, and the possibility of building a center for nuclear science and technology. In 2018, on the sidelines of the Atomexpo Forum in Sochi, Russia, Rosatom’s Middle East and North Africa regional branch and Saudi company Sumou Holding Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in such areas as wind power generation, the supply of security systems for infrastructure facilities, and the supply of isotopes.
