One of the stories almost buried over the Christmas period was Saudi Arabia’s latest move on renewable energy project development. On December 20th, speaking at the Digital Forum in Riyadh, Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud announced that 1,200 locations across the Kingdom were being examined for suitability to host wind and solar projects. A few weeks later the Minister stated, this time at a mining forum, that Saudi aims to become not an oil producer but an energy provider – also stating “we are surveying every corner of this country” so that green electricity and green hydrogen can be delivered “almost to the home address of whoever wants it.” Saudi is also exploring for lithium and rare earth…