Chinese PV Industry Brief: Big deals in the Middle East

Shanghai Electric said on Wednesday that it has secured a contract with Saudi energy giant ACWA Power to build the fifth 900 MW phase of the GW Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park in the United Arab Emirates. The company had already won a contract to build the fourth phase of the project. The 900 MW fifth phase will be commissioned in the second quarter of 2021, with the electricity to be sold to Dubai Water and Electricity Authority (DEWA) under a long-term power purchase agreement. The fifth phase was originally supposed to feature 700 MW of CSP, but was later expanded to include 250 MW of PV capacity. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is expected to reach 5 GW and will include large-scale storage and hydrogen facilities.
JA Solar has supplied high-efficiency PERC modules for 134 MW of PV capacity at two sites in Jordan. Spain’s Fotowatio Renewable Venture (FRV), a unit of Jeddah-based Abdul Latif Jameel Energy, is developing the two 67 MW plants. JA Solar has provided FRV with around 1 GW of panels since 2016.
Longi told shareholders this week that it will adjust its sales guidance for 2020 due to unexpectedly low PV development related to the pandemic. The monocrystalline module producer reported delivery delays in several countries, including India.
Trina Solar held a commissioning ceremony on Wednesday for the first phase of its 4 GW production facility in Yiwu, Zhejiang province. The company will produce PV modules at the facility, using 210mm large-size wafers.
Datang said this week that it deployed 1.46 GW of PV capacity in China last year, up 31.5% year on year. The state-owned company added that solar projects are part of its ongoing strategic shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
SFCE said this week that Deloitte has stepped down as its auditor “due to the professional risk associated with the multiple uncertainties [which] exist relating to [the] going concern of the [SFCE] group and the level of audit fees.” The Hong Kong-listed solar developer has replaced Deloitte with BDO.
Panda Green will have to wait a little longer for its shareholders to vote on a proposal for a subsidiary of state-owned majority shareholder Beijing Energy to offer it RMB1.5 billion ($215 million) of leasing services through to the end of 2022. Information about when a vote to approve the scheme will be held was due to be published on Friday, but it has now been postponed to Aug. 28.