Three tenders scheduled for 3.45 gigawatts of photovoltaics Aim is to cut domestic use of crude, diesel and fuel oil Saudi Arabia is hoping its solar-power program will generate 7,000 jobs and build a local manufacturing industry that can export products to the world, reducing domestic demand for its crude oil in the process. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources requires bidders seeking to build about 3.45 gigawatts of solar and wind plants by 2020 to spend 30 percent of the capital they invest through home-grown workers and companies, said Turki al-Shehri, head of the renewable project development office for the kingdom. “We want to create value,” Al-Shehri said in an interview at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York on Tuesday. “We don’t just want to bring in companies that open up manufacturing facilities at a very high premium, which the consumer will end up […]