Solar polysilicon manufacturer United Solar Holding has secured OMR60 million (US$156 million) in financing from the sovereign wealth fund of Oman, Future Fund Oman (FFO).
The strategic investment from the Oman sovereign wealth fund comes at a time when United Solar is currently building a polysilicon factory in Oman. The investment represents nearly a tenth of the total investment for the polysilicon factory, which United Solar estimates to be around US$1.6 billion.
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The company started construction of the 100,000 ton polysilicon factory in March this year, which is expected to be operational in March 2025.
Rashid Sultan Al Hashmi, senior manager at FFO, said: “This new facility will enhance Oman’s standing in the renewable energy market and serve as a catalyst for further foreign direct investment (FDI). This project is expected to attract further downstream investments in Oman’s solar manufacturing value chain.”
Among the other downstream investments in Oman’s solar manufacturing value chain is the construction of a 10GW n-type solar cell and module assembly plant from Chinese solar manufacturer Q-Sun Solar.
The plant will also be located in the Sohar free port region of Oman and will have an annual nameplate capacity of 2GW of solar cells and 8GW of PV modules. The selection of Oman to build solar manufacturing capacity would allow the companies to provide capacity in a region with growing interest in renewable energy capacity for green hydrogen (Premium access), but also to export to other regions, including the US with whom it has a free trade agreement.
This year several companies have expanded into the Middle East with manufacturing announcements, including Chinese solar manufacturer Jinko Solar, which has announced a 10GW TOPCon cell and module plant in Saudi Arabia. Jinko Solar and TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy subsidiary Lumetech have also signed an agreement to commission a combined 30GW of ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity in Saudi Arabia.
The construction of solar manufacturing capacity in the Middle East comes at a time when Chinese manufacturers are struggling with overcapacity issues—BloombergNEF forecasts 1.2TW of manufacturing capacity in 2024 compared to less than 600GW of PV additions for the year—that have affected the financial results this year of the top module manufacturers and even polysilicon ones.
