Saudi Arabia’s SABIC has established a joint venture company to build one of the world’s biggest utility-scale battery factories as global investment in the sector heats up, according to a report in Arab News.
The deal, announced in May 2019, was closed and the companies will move forward, completing a major milestone, according to Fuad Mosa, CEO of Nusaned Investment.
“The closing marks a milestone for Saudi Arabia in its quest to localize manufacturing for technologies in emerging industries,” said Fuad Mosa, CEO of Nusaned Investment.
SABIC.
The new company will produce energy storage systems for use alongside utility-scale renewables projects, telecom towers, mining sites, remote cities and off-grid locations, SABIC said.
The new factory is expected to be in production in 2021, Asharq Alawsat said.
“The JV will aim to establish a leadership position in the rapidly developing energy storage market and both companies are fully committed to realizing our joint vision for the project,” Christian Schmid, CEO of the Schmid Group, said.
With research and development facilities in Germany and Saudi Arabia, the JV also plans to set-up a gigawatts (GW) scale manufacturing facility in Industrial City III in Dammam, expected to be in production in 2021, according to a report in Argaam.
As opposed to residential energy storage systems, whose technical specifications are expressed in kilowatts, utility-scale battery storage is measured in megawatts. The combination of declining battery energy storage costs worldwide and the increased introduction of renewable energy and clean power generation has created an attractive investment environment for the industrial scale batteries market.
