Saudi Arabia plans to export solar panels to Europe & Africa
The “Masdar” factory for solar panels, which is affiliated with the “Bin Omaira Holding Company”, is looking to export its products to Europe and Africa, according to the director of business development in the Saudi company, Mohammed bin Omairah.
Bin Omira Holding is in the process of signing several agreements with ACWA Power for projects inside the Kingdom, as revealed by Bin Omira, as the company aspires to be a strategic contributor to the localization of the renewable energy industry.
Masdar, located in the Tabuk region, is the largest plant for the production of solar panels in the Middle East and North Africa, with a total area of 27,000 square meters, and an annual production capacity of 1,200 megawatts when completed. The total investment in the project is more than SAR 700 million.
The plant includes 4 production lines, but one production line is currently operating with a capacity of 150 megawatts, and the second line will enter work in the middle of the year, bringing production by the end of 2002 to 450 megawatts .
Masdar, despite its opening in November 2021, was able to export its products to Tunisia and Jordan. It aims to enter new markets in the Middle East, Africa, and European countries this year.
Bin Amira reveals that the company plans to open another factory, with twice the production capacity of the current factory, within two to three years, within one of the major projects in Saudi Arabia.
The plant aims to cover the needs of the city of “NEOM” for solar panels, which is only about 200 km away.
Masdar relies on the local market to obtain its needs for glass and tires to manufacture its products, “while we import cells from Italy, Spain, and China, and at the same time, the latter represents our biggest competitor in the solar panel market locally and regionally,” according to Ben Omairah.
It is noteworthy that by 2030, Saudi Arabia aims to generate 50% of its energy needs through renewable energies.