French firms EDF and AREVA have signed a series of two agreements with organisations in Saudi Arabia to support the nation’s nuclear energy programme.

The first set includes Memorandums of Understanding with five Saudi companies which aim to help develop the industrial and technical skills of local companies while the other set has been signed with four universities.

EDF CEO Henri Proglio said: “These new agreements underline EDF and AREVA’s commitment alongside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to enable it to successfully implement its national energy strategy and in particular to develop its future nuclear programme by contributing to the development of a local network of manufacturers and by training qualified engineers.”

Saudi Arabia aims to increase electricity generation capacity from 55GW to 120GW by 2020, with further increases planned by 2032 which includes 17GW of nuclear power, according to the US Energy Information Administration.