SoftBank, Saudi Arabia aim for world's biggest solar farm

NEW YORK - Japan's SoftBank Group Corp and Saudi Arabia signed a memorandum of understanding here on Wednesday to build the world's biggest solar farm in the Arabian country.

SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son said that if fully built, the solar farm can produce 200 gigawatts (GW) of energy at its top capacity as by 2030, about 100 times the previous biggest solar project under development in Australia.

The solar farm is expected to cost $200 billion and create 100,000 jobs in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman signed the memorandum with Son during his visit in New York. "It's bold, risky and we hope we succeed doing that," he was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

The ambitious move towards green energy reflects the Arabian kingdom's bid to reduce reliance on oil industry.

"The kingdom has great sunshine, great size of available land and great engineers, great labor, but most importantly, the best and greatest vision," Son said to reporters.