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Firms sign 20GW Saudi wafer factory deal

20 October 2023

Saudi Arabia's Vision Industries and China's TCL Central New Energy Technology Company have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) to implement the kingdom's first photovoltaic (PV) crystalline chip factory.

The signing of the JDA, understood to be a legally binding document, follows the signing of a term sheet agreement in May this year to establish a joint venture to implement the project.

According to a local media report, the project's first phase will have a design capacity equivalent to 20GW of solar PV production a year, twice the capacity initially reported by MEED. 

At the time, the project's first phase was understood to require an investment of about $500m. 

It is reported that TCL Central has completed the registration of its wholly-owned subsidiary LumeTech in Singapore, which will serve as co-investor in the joint venture along with Vision Industries.

MEED previously reported that the first phase of the planned ingot and wafer manufacturing plant will have the capacity to produce 150 millimetres (mm) to 200mm of micron wafers. 

A solar wafer is a thin slice of a crystalline silicon or semiconductor, which is vital for fabricating integrated circuits in PVs to manufacture solar cells. Polysilicon grains or pebbles comprise the main input product for production.

The plant's potential location has not yet been disclosed. MEED understands the project's initial phase could support solar PV production of up to 10GW a year.

Turbine manufacturing

Another Saudi-Chinese joint venture plans to build a wind turbine manufacturing facility at Oxagon in Saudi Arabia's Neom gigaproject development.

The planned facility will have the capacity to manufacture wind turbines that can produce an equivalent of 3GW of electricity. MEED reported that it will require an investment of approximately $1.5bn.

Saudi Arabia's Vision Industries and China's Envision are investing in the wind turbine manufacturing plant project, which aims to cater to the growing demand for wind turbines in the broader Middle East and Africa region in light of widespread decarbonisation initiatives.

The first wind turbines are expected to roll out of production by the first quarter of 2025.

Vision Industries is a joint venture of Saudi Arabia's Abunayyan Holding and Al-Muhaidib Group.

More than $120bn-worth of wind and solar PV power generation plants are in the study, design and procurement phases across 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects.

Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have the largest potential markets. 

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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