The Saudi Electricity Co. (SEC) and the Petroleum, Chemicals and Mining Co. (PCMC), a subsidiary of the Saudi Binladin Group, have signed a partnership and cooperation agreement aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

The deal, which is to be implemented via the Green Saudi Co. for Carbon Services, is also meant to combat environmental pollution in accordance with regional and international conventions, as well as local systems.

SEC CEO Ziyad bin Mohammed Al-Shiha said the agreement represents an important step in carbon-emissions reduction and pollution control in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020. He added that the environmental programs being adopted to lessen dependence on fuel, and the technical standards followed in power-generation plants, have enabled the company to know how to deal with issues relating to the environment, renewable energy and carbon reduction.

Al-Shiha said the establishment of the company is supported by the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, and other agencies concerned with clean energy, as the Kingdom is part of international carbon-reduction programs in light of the Paris and Marrakech climate conferences.

The new company aims to register clean energy projects and carbon-emission reduction programs within the UN Climate Change Program, he added.

Al-Shiha said the company will also issue and market certificates of carbon-emissions reduction arising from clean energy projects in regional and global markets, in the best interests of national and private-sector companies. This step will support clean energy projects and generate financial returns, he added.

SEC’s initiatives on pollution control and emissions reduction reportedly saved more than 24.8 million barrels of equivalent fuel and 13 million barrels of diesel in 2016.