Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced on Sunday that its fully-owned subsidiary Renewable Energy Localisation Company (RELC) has inked three joint venture (JV) agreements with Chinese companies to localise the manufacturing and assembly of equipment and components for solar and wind power in the Kingdom.

RELC signed agreements with Vision Industries, a leading Saudi investor and developer of clean energy industrial projects and with three Chinese companies to forms JVs that will meet growing local and export demand, and secure and strengthen local supply chains.

  • The JV with the wind power technology company Envision Energy involves manufacture and assembly of wind turbine components including blades with an estimated annual generation capacity of 4 gigawatts (GW). Under this agreement, RELC will hold 40 percent of the JV, with Envision holding 50 percent and Vision Industries holding 10 percent.
  • The second JV with JinkoSolar and Vision Industries entails localising the manufacture of photovoltaic cells and modules for high-efficiency solar generation. Under the agreement, which envisages annual production of 10 gigawatts (GW) capacity, RELC will hold 40 percent of the JV, with JinkoSolar's subsidiary Jinko Middle East holding 40 percent and Vision Industries holding 20 percent. 
  • The third JV with LUMETECH S.A, a subsidiary of TCL Zhonghuan Renewable Energy and Vision Industries will localise production of solar photovoltaic ingots and wafers with annual production sufficient to generate 20 GW of power. Under this agreement, RELC will hold 40 percent of the JV, with LUMETECH holding 40 percent and Vision Industries 20 percent.

While the PIF statement didn't disclose the investment numbers , JinkoSolar said its manufacturing JV is expected to have a total investment amount of approximately $1 billion, and will be funded through a combination of its internal funds and external financing. 

Yazeed Al-Humied, Deputy Governor and Head of MENA Investments at PIF, said the JVs will contribute to localising the production of 75 percent of the components in Saudi Arabia’s renewable projects by 2030 in line with the Ministry of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Programme.

PIF, through ACWA Power and Badeel, is currently developing a total of 8 renewable energy projects - Sudair, Shuaibah 2, Ar Rass 2, Al Kahfah, Saad 2, Haden, Muwayh, Al Khushaybi - with a total capacity of 13.6 GW and representing a total joint investment of over $9 billion.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa