Chinese solar tracking systems provider Arctech announced on Monday plans to construct a factory in Saudi Arabia, its second one overseas after Gujarat, India, marking a major step forward for the company's commitment to the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to a press release issued by the company, it signed a land lease agreement with Saudi Arabia's MODON to establish the factory in Jeddah. The facility, spanning an area of 97,000 square metres, will boast a production capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) annually.

This localised production, combined with Arctech's existing global supply chain, is expected to ultimately enable a 10GW local delivery capacity. The move also strengthens supply chain resilience in overseas markets, the statement added.

This announcement comes shortly after fellow Chinese solar tracker company GameChange Solar (GCS) revealed a strategic partnership with Jiangsu Zhenjiang New Energy Equipment Co. (JZNEE) in mid-April to build a manufacturing facility in Dammam, capable of producing up to 3GW (expandable to 5GW) of solar tracker components for GCS's Genius Tracker. The Dammam facility is expected to be operational by June 2024.

(Writing by Sowmya Sundar; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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