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.
