The largest solar panel project in Saudi Arabia: This is how we will face Chinese competition
The CEO of the business building the biggest solar panel factory in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, Fahd bin Omairah, said that the company has a plan to deal with the competition in general, especially the Chinese company when it comes to price.
Bin Amira told Al Arabiya that the UAE will fight Chinese alliance-based competition in a number of ways, including working together with the Local Content Authority to boost local production, protect national industry, and deepen local industrialization through vertical integration. The UAE will also put a lot of money into research and development, working with labs in Spain, France, Switzerland, the UK, and the Gulf.
According to the company, about 30% of its products are made in Saudi Arabia. This is because the company has a strategy that says 80% of its production will go to renewable energy projects run by the Saudi Ministry of Energy and 10% will go to specific projects run by the company. About 10% of the production will also be ordered ahead of time for projects in Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
He remembered that the Bin Omira Holding Company had just started the first part of operations at its “Masdar” plant in the industrial town of Tabuk to make solar panels. The investments were worth 700 million riyals.
He said that the plant covers more than 27,000 square meters and can make 1.2 gigawatts of electricity. It is the biggest solar panel plant in the Middle East and North Africa.
Bin Amira said that the project’s goal is to set up renewable energy industries in the Kingdom with the newest technologies and production lines so that investments in solar energy can begin. The project also wants to make it easier for relevant government agencies to work together, which is especially important since it is near the Vision 2030-launched NEOM and Red Projects on the sea.
