Solar PV infrastructure company Desert Technologies intends to build a solar cell and module assembly plant in Saudi Arabia.
The plant will have an annual nameplate capacity of 5GW, of which 3GW for solar cell capacity and 2GW for PV modules. However, the company did not disclose what technology will be used for the solar cells. PV Tech has reached out to Desert Technologies about it.
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Investment for the construction of the plant will be of SAR750 million (US$200 million), with the plant covering an area of 170,000 square meters. The project will be located in Jeddah’s Third Industrial City and will leverage “advanced manufacturing technologies that adhere to the latest global quality standards”, according to the company. It added that the capacity produced at the plant will cater to the local market, while boosting the country’s exporting capacity.
Solar PV manufacturing in the Middle East
This is the latest PV manufacturing plan in Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East, which has seen an increase of announcements this year. In July, the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed two solar PV manufacturing agreements that would see 30GW of domestic manufacturing capacity built in the country, from ingots to modules.
The first agreement has been made with Lumetech, a subsidiary of Chinese solar manufacturer TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy, which aims to build an ingot and wafer plant with an annual nameplate capacity of 20GW. Whereas the other agreement has been signed with Chinese solar manufacturer JinkoSolar to bring 10GW of annual nameplate capacity of n-type solar cells and modules in Saudi Arabia.
Neighbouring country Oman has also attracted interest in upstream solar manufacturing, with polysilicon manufacturer United Solar Holding recently securing US$156 million in financing for its 100,000 ton polysilicon factory which is currently under construction and expected to be operational in March 2025. Another notable investment in Oman came from Chinese solar manufacturer Q-Sun Solar which aims to establish a 10GW n-type solar cells and module assembly plant in Oman. The plant would have an annual nameplate capacity of 2GW for solar cells and 8GW for module assembly in the Sohar free port region.
