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Saudi-German Project to Develop Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

A man walks past the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
A man walks past the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
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Saudi-German Project to Develop Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries

A man walks past the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
A man walks past the headquarters of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Saudi petrochemical giant SABIC revealed that it has established a joint venture company to build one of the world’s biggest utility-scale battery factories.

SABIC unit Nusaned Investment has teamed up with German SCHMID Group to develop the vanadium redox flow batteries.

The Riwaq Industrial Development Company will also join the JV, SABIC said in a statement.

The new factory is expected to be in production in 2021.

“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

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.

Saudi Arabia is aiming to install 57.5 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, spurring demand for new battery storage capacity in the Kingdom.

The project will be developed in Dammam 3rd Industrial City and will have an annual production capacity of 3 GWh — making it among the biggest Flow Battery production facilities worldwide.

Nusaned Investment is an investment company based in Riyadh with a mandate to increase local content in the Kingdom.

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Gold Hits Nearly Two-month High as Middle East Tensions Spur Safe-haven Demand

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
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Gold Hits Nearly Two-month High as Middle East Tensions Spur Safe-haven Demand

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices climbed on Friday to their highest levels in nearly two months, and were on track for a weekly gain, after Israeli military strikes on Iran drove investors toward safe-haven assets.

Spot gold was up 1.2% at $3,423.30 an ounce, as of 0544 GMT, after hitting its highest since April 22 earlier in the session. Bullion has gained more than 3.4% so far this week.

US gold futures gained 1.2% to $3,444.50.

Geopolitical tensions escalated after Israel targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, as tensions mounted over US efforts to halt Iran's production of atomic bomb materials.

"This latest spike in hostilities in the Middle East has taken the focus off trade negotiations for now, with investors making a play towards safe-haven assets in response," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Israel declared a state of emergency, citing expected missile and drone strikes from Tehran, and the US military is preparing for various contingencies in the Middle East, including potential assistance with evacuating American civilians, a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"Gold surged past resistance around $3,400 on news of the airstrikes, and further upside could be in-store should the escalation continue," Waterer said.

Signaling a cooling US labor market and subdued inflation pressures, new applications for unemployment benefits held at an eight-month high last week, while slowing domestic demand helped restrain producer prices in May.

The data, released a day after the Labor Department reported a moderate rise in consumer prices in May, bolstered expectations of an earlier rate cut.

Traders are now expecting a Federal Reserve interest rate cut of 55 basis points by the year-end, starting in September rather than October as previously anticipated.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.3% at $36.25 per ounce, platinum lost 1% at $1,282.55 and palladium shed 0.5% to $1,050.61. All three metals were set for weekly gains.