| | NOVEMBER 20239IN FOCUSAramco, one of the top integrated energy and chemical companies in the world, and Dragos Inc., the world leader in cybersecurity for operational technology (OT) environments, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today to discuss potential ways to jointly safeguard vital industrial assets and infrastructure for Aramco, its affiliates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.In order to protect global supply chains and off-the-shelf environments, cybersecurity services and technology must be swiftly implemented. The MOU will set the stage for this investigation. The MOU seeks to assist Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 pillar, which is to develop a robust and progressively varied economy, in part through safe digital transformation that fosters investment and growth in the private sector.Robert M. Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of Dragos, and Basim A. Al Ruwaii, Information Security Director and Chief Information Security Officer, Aramco, signed the MOU on behalf of Dragos and Aramco, respectively, in the presence of Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, Executive Vice President of Technology and Innovation at Aramco, and Salem S. Al-Elwi, Manager of OT/ICS Cybersecurity. Also in attendance were Aramco Ventures CEO Mahdi Aladel and Executive Managing Director, Strategic Venturing Bruce Niven. Aramco Ventures is an investor in Dragos.The MOU involves development efforts for a local Dragos hardware assembly facility in addition to localising Dragos services and solutions. Furthermore, Dragos will discuss plans with Aramco to open a training facility in the nation with the goal of improving OT cybersecurity capabilities for technological applications. Saudi Arabia has extended an invitation to businesses to submit applications for four brand-new solar power projects under the National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP), which has an overall 3,700 MW of production potential. The Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) has announced that the Request for Qualification (RFQ) process is currently live for contractors who would like to submit a proposal for these solar photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Plant (IPP) projects.The projects, according to a statement from SPPC, are the 2,000 MW Al-Sadawi IPP project in the Eastern province, the 1,000 MW Al-Masaa IPP project in the North-Western Hail region, the 400 MW Al-Henakiyah-2 IPP in the Madinah region, and the 300 MW Rabigh-2 IPP project in the Makkah region.SPPC, the projects include the 2,000 MW Al-Sadawi IPP project in the Eastern province, the 1,000 MW Al-Masaa IPP project in the North-Western Hail region, the 400 MW Al-Henakiyah-2 IPP in the Madinah region, and the 300 MW Rabigh-2 IPP project in the Makkah region.The projects are part of the Gulf Kingdom's Vision 2030 economic diversification scheme, namely the fifth phase of the NREP. The goal of the programme is to increase the amount of renewable energy in the nation's energy mix in order to reach the 50 percent target outlined in Vision 2030. The government-owned SPCC, which is in charge of acquiring electricity from independent power providers, announced that it has already granted contracts for renewable energy projects with a combined 12.6 gigawatt (GW) of production capacity. DRAGOS AND ARAMCO SIGN MOU WITH SAUDI ARABIA IIPSAUDI ARABIA TO INVITE 4 NEW SOLAR POWER PROJECTS
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