MUSCAT: In a deal that lays the ground for the launch of large-scale solar panel manufacturing in the Sultanate of Oman, China’s Drinda has announced the signing of a land lease agreement for the establishment of a major solar PV panel manufacturing project at Sohar Freezone.
The mega-scale project, estimated to cost around $700 million, will support the production of 5 gigawatts (GW) of high-efficiency solar panels per annum.
The announcement was made by Jietai New Energy Technology Co, Ltd (Jietai Solar/JTPV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hainan Drinda New Energy Technology Co, in a post on Friday.
“Drinda, JTPV's parent company, has taken a monumental step in our global expansion. On October 31, we formalised our commitment to a 5GW high-efficiency N-type cell manufacturing base in Oman with the Sohar Freezone Land Lease Agreement signed at the Invest Oman building in Muscat,” it said.
“Scheduled for completion by 2025, this initiative is more than just a project — it's a strategic leap forward in our global operations and a testament to the growing partnership between China and Oman in the renewable energy landscape” JTPV added in its post.
Present at the agreement signing were top Omani government officials including Ibtisam bint Ahmed al Faroojiyah, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Investment Promotion. Also in attendance were key officials of Invest Oman, as well as Emile Hoogsteden, CEO of Sohar Port and Freezone.
The signing on Thursday builds on preliminary agreements initialised by Drinda with Omani authorities in June this year for the establishment of a 10-GW capacity solar PV plant to be implemented in two phases.
Drinda, which completed the 100-per cent acquisition of Jietai Solar last year, has emerged as the world’s first specialised solar cell manufacturer to mass produce N-type TOPCon cells, considered one of the top cell technologies with high bifaciality. This novel feature allows for additional energy to be generated from the reverse side of the module. A leader player in the global solar cell market, Drinda’s share of the TOPCon cell market was more than 57 per cent in 2023, making it the larger producer of these high-efficiency cells globally.
Significantly, the latest investment adds another significant building block in an expanding domestic production value chain that will support Oman’s ambitious energy transition goals.
Elsewhere within Sohar Freezone, United Solar Polysilicon (FZC) SPC, an international green energy enterprise specialising in the solar industry chain, is developing a 100,000 tonnes per annum capacity polysilicon plant at a cost of around $1.6 billion. Polysilicon is a key ingredient in the manufacture of solar cells and other renewable energy components.
Likewise, Oman Investment Authority is collaborating with Siemens Energy in exploring the potential for the domestic fabrication of electrolysers to support the country’s green hydrogen production objectives.
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