News
By Jonathan Touriño Jacobo
Manufacturing, Cell Processing, Companies, , , Materials, Modules
Latest
Saudi Arabia signs deals for 30GW domestic solar PV manufacturing
News
Brand and end markets are king. Who will dominate the market in the next PV industry reshuffle?
Features, Interviews
Vietnam to buy power from residential and commercial rooftop solar
News
JinkoSolar to build 10GW n-type cell and module factory in Saudi Arabia
News
Aurora Solar acquires Lyra to streamline solar permitting and automation
News
Avangrid begins producing power from 321MWdc solar PV plant in Texas
News
On a firm footing
Features, Featured Articles, Long Reads
Global solar tracker installations to reach 752GW between 2024 and 2030
News
GreenYellow, Carrefour sign Europe’s ‘largest’ distributed PV deal for solar carports
News
Leeward Renewable Energy secures US$1.25 billion financing for 890MW US portfolio
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has signed two solar PV manufacturing agreements with Chinese manufacturers JinkoSolar and TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy.
Both agreements, made through joint ventures (JV), will bring 30GW of solar PV manufacturing, from ingots to modules, to Saudi Arabia. The agreements have been made by the Renewable Energy Localization Company (RELC), a fully-owned PIF company, along with the participation of Saudi renewables investor Vision Industries (VI) and the Chinese manufacturers.
This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription
Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis
Photovoltaics International is now included.
Subscribe to Premium
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
- Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
- Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
Subscribe to Basic (FREE)
One of the two solar manufacturing agreements was signed with Lumetech, a subsidiary of Chinese solar manufacturer TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy. This deal would bring domestic manufacturing of ingots and wafers with an annual nameplate capacity of 20GW.
The facility will be built and financed through a JV between Lumetech, RELC and Vision Industries. Lumetech and RELC will hold 40% equity and VI the remaining 20%.
On the other hand, the agreement signed with JinkoSolar aims to bring 10GW of annual nameplate capacity of n-type solar cells and modules of domestic PV manufacturing capacity to Saudi Arabia. Although the agreement did not specify the technology used, JinkoSolar primarily makes tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) products. The Chinese manufacturer aims to phase out its production capacity of p-type and reach 90% of the total capacity produced from n-type by the end of the year.
Similar to the Lumetech agreement, JinkoSolar and RELC will hold 40% equity, and VI will hold the remaining 20%.
A timeline and location for the construction of both manufacturing plants have not been disclosed so far. However, JinkoSolar said the schedule for development and construction will be “subject to market conditions”.
Yazeed Al-Humied, deputy governor and head of MENA Investments at PIF, said: “The new agreements are part of PIF’s efforts to localise advanced technologies in the renewable sector in Saudi Arabia and meet commitments to increase the share of local content, as well as contribute to localising the production of 75% of the components in Saudi Arabia’s renewable projects by 2030 in line with the Ministry of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Program.
“These projects will also enable Saudi Arabia to become a global hub for export of renewable technologies.”
Onshoring PV manufacturing in the Middle East
These are the latest solar manufacturing agreements Saudi Arabia has secured so far this year. US solar tracker manufacturer GameChange Solar recently partnered with Chinese firm Jiangsu Zhenjiang New Energy Equipment (JZNEE). The partnership between both companies will see the construction of a new tracker manufacturing facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with an annual component production capacity of up to 3GW. Commercial production of the facility is expected to start later this year, and the capacity could be expanded to 5GW.
A neighbouring country, the United Arab Emirates, could see the development of a polysilicon facility from solar manufacturer GCL Tech. Last month, the company announced it will explore potential cooperation opportunities with Mubadala Investment Company, one of the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund, to establish a comprehensive silicon ecosystem of global and regional significance in the United Arab Emirates.
Subscribe to PV Tech Premium to Access
UPCOMING EVENT
8 October 2024
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 8-9 October 2024 is our second PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The event in 2023 was a sell out success and 2024 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
ingots, jinkosolar, pif, saudi arabia, saudi arabia pif, solar manufacturing, TCL Zhonghuan, wafers
Read Next
JinkoSolar to build 10GW n-type cell and module factory in Saudi Arabia
July 16, 2024
Chinese solar manufacturing giant JinkoSolar will build a 10GW n-type solar cell and module manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.
July 9, 2024
Indian EPC firm Larsen & Toubro has secured contracts to build two solar PV plants in the Middle East with a combined capacity of 3.5GW.
Strengthening US solar manufacturing: the case for including domestically produced wafers in domestic content incentives
July 8, 2024
The US needs to include wafer production in the domestic content incentives, writes NexWafe CEO Davor Sutija.
Saudi Arabia’s SPPC signs PPAs for 5.5GW of solar projects
June 27, 2024
The Saudi Power Procurement Company has signed PPAs with three companies for solar projects with a combined capacity of 5.5GW.
Saudi Arabia to identify renewable energy project sites via ‘unprecedented’ geographical survey
June 26, 2024
Saudi Arabia has launched a geographical survey project to identify suitable sites for renewables projects across the nation.
Sponsored
‘Excellent manufacturing cost and efficiency ratios’: JinKo on its work in Europe at Intersolar 2024
June 26, 2024
PV Tech speaks to Frank Niendorf of JinKo Solar EU about the company’s growing global footprint, and compliance with sustainability criteria.
Subscribe to Newsletter
Most Read
Vietnam to buy power from residential and commercial rooftop solar
News
SEMA renews calls for solar wafers’ inclusion in US domestic content bonus incentives
News
SunCable lands approval for AAPowerLink project set to unlock 20GW of solar in Australia
News
France awards 180MW rooftop solar PV, half of previous tender
News
Global solar tracker installations to reach 752GW between 2024 and 2030
News
JinkoSolar to build 10GW n-type cell and module factory in Saudi Arabia
News
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Webinars
July 31, 2024
1:00 PM (BST) / 2:00PM (CEST)
Upcoming Webinars
August 21, 2024
5pm BST
Solar Media Events
September 24, 2024
Warsaw, Poland