UL, a global safety science company and Saudi Arabia-based GCC Labs have launched their joint venture designed to develop a state-of-the-art Renewables and Smart Grid Testing Facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The new laboratory will be the first of its kind in Mena and will serve customers across the region with world-class testing and certification facilities

Jeff Smidt, vice president & GM of the Energy and Power Technologies Division at UL, said that the Mena region is poised to make huge strides in the electricity sector over the next decade.

According to Smidt, the joint venture agreement, the establishment of GCC Labs and the significance of the events at the first Electric Summit all point towards an extremely positive future for the sector in the region, with Saudi Arabia in particular marching towards the sustainable future outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030.

He stated: “It was an honour to be involved in and experience the inaugural Saudi Electric Summit event. There was a very obvious sense of collaboration amongst private firms and government entities, all wanting to work together for the shared purpose of improving the energy sector in the GCC.

“The number of genuinely innovative initiatives underway in KSA will ideally result in a period of rapid improvement that we hope will drive greater efficiencies, performance and sustainability to ultimately benefit the region.”

Hamid Syed, vice president & GM, UL Middle East, said: “The Saudi Electric Forum was the perfect place to sign such a significant agreement and we look forward to collaborating with our colleagues at GCC Labs to offer renewable and Smart Grid testing facilities to the public and private sector firms across MENA so that everyone in this region benefit from the safety advancements made in the sector.”

The Middle East markets to be served by the joint venture all have ambitious renewable targets with substantial growth expected over the next several years. It is anticipated that the joint venture will be well positioned to support those targets in the years to come.

Saleh A Al Amri, chief executive officer of GCC Lab added: “The event showed the trust and high expectation that our strategic stakeholders have for our Joint Venture to deliver best in class services to contribute fundamentally to the achievement of the KSA and GCC visions. We are delighted to work with such a globally renowned industry leader as UL and we look forward to a successful venture.” – TradeArabia News Service