If all goes according to plan, within a few years, one million people will live in Saudi Arabia’s ‘city of the future’ – and every one of them will depend on a fleet of self-driving cars. 

Saudi Arabia has set aside $500bn to invest in the economic zone of NEOM, a smart city that will be built from scratch and where inhabitants will get around by using fully autonomous vehicles (AVs). While it is certainly a significant project, the systems being developed for the NEOM megacity are still in the design phase, with many details either not yet decided or not communicated to the public.

The partners have executed a six-week expedition aboard the OceanXplorer, the most advanced exploration, research and media vessel ever built.

NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic $500bn city has announced extensive findings from a joint mission with OceanX, a non-profit ocean exploration organisation. The expedition is the most adventurous assessment of the northern Red Sea to date.

The chief executive of French owned power giant ENGIE in Saudi Arabia, Turki Al-Shehri, finds it hard to hide his excitement about green hydrogen. However, he couldn’t hide his worries on the difficulties that conventional energy projects are currently facing.  

On the other hand, Al-Shehri firmly believes the future is hydrogen. He said: "I think it’s a global energy changer. Green hydrogen is coming. Even before it was even a buzzword, we’ve been spending roughly €60 million a year on green hydrogen research around the world."

The General Authority of Competition in Saudi Arabia has given the green light for NEOM and Fas Energy to develop and operate data centers in the Saudi city of NEOM.

The Authority tweeted this week that had no objection to proposed joint venture between NEOM Co. and FAS Energy Co. to develop, own and operate the next generation of sustainable ultra-large-scale data centers in the new city of NEOM.  A fact sheet on the project states: “[NEOM] Includes artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, data centers, the Internet of Things and e-commerce.”

Thrillophilia, India's largest platform to book travel experiences, has partnered with the Saudi Arabia Tourism Board to publicise and promote Saudi Arabia as an exciting holiday destination for the Indian market.  This partnership aims to position Saudi Arabia on the same stage. With experiences such as desert dune bashing and hiking to the edge of the world, scuba diving in the red sea, and exploring UNESCO world heritage sites, Saudi Arabia is sure to wow tourists with a unique holiday experience full of exotic adventures, unique cultural activities, and the most scenic cities and nature destinations.

Saudi Aramco and three other partners have concluded an agreement for a $12bn project that will produce hydrogen and power in the kingdom’s southern city of Jazan as the world’s biggest oil exporter forges ahead with clean energy.  Aramco has a 20% stake in the joint venture through its unit Saudi Aramco Power Co., it said. Air Products owns 46%, ACWA Power 25% and Air Products Qudra 9%. The joint venture was first announced in 2018.

Saudi Arabia’s planned zero-carbon city NEOM in July 2020 formed a joint venture with Air Products and ACWA Power to create a $5 billion green hydrogen project, which is expected to produce about 1.2 million mt/year of ammonia by 2025.