Saudi starts work with SoftBank on 200 gigawatt solar plan: minister

[December 19, 2018]  RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has already started implementing an agreement with SoftBank Group's <9984.T> Vision Fund to provide 200 gigawatts of solar power in the kingdom, energy minister Khalid al-Falih said at a post-budget event.

 Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih talks to journalists at the beginning of an OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria December 6, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

The kingdom's Public Investment Fund agreed to invest $45 billion in the giant tech fund led by SoftBank and the pair are working with other parties on a number of large-scale, multi-billion dollar projects relating to the solar industry.

The PIF and private sector will fund renewable energy projects in the kingdom, Falih said.

(Reporting By Marwa Rashad and Stephen Kalin; Writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Tom Arnold)

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