The General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has announced the signing of a new joint venture agreement in the Kingdom’s emerging renewable energy sector.
Hosted at SAGIA’s Riyadh headquarters, the signatories, Al-Rushaid Group and the French-based Optimum Tracker, solidified their new partnership at a signing ceremony witnessed by Ibrahim Al-Omar, governor of SAGIA, attending under Invest Saudi.
The new legal entity created by the two companies will combine their expertise into a Saudi-registered company providing design and engineering services in the field of solar energy, with a focus on the manufacturing of mounting system structures for solar PV panels. Beginning the joint venture with an initial investment of SR200 million ($53.3 million), Al-Rushaid and Optimum Tracker will base their main operations in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province and target a gradual capacity to no less than 150 megawatts. The plant constructed under the deal plans to export at least 30 percent of its products to countries across the region and create 1,000 direct jobs.
SAGIA governor Al-Omar said: “We are very pleased to welcome Optimum Tracker to Saudi Arabia and facilitate their new partnership with leading Saudi innovator Al-Rushaid Group, as we build the future of the renewable energy sector in the Kingdom.”
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SR200m - is the initial investment in the new Saudi-registered company, which will provide design and engineering capabilities in the field of solar energy.
Sheikh Rasheed A. Al-Rushaid, vice chairman and president of Al-Rushaid Group, said: “We’re proud and extremely excited to be working side by side with a successful, rapidly growing company like Optimum Tracker, as we work toward localizing an important component of solar plants in Saudi Arabia in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”
Madyan Michotte De Welle, CEO and co-founder of Optimum Tracker, said: “Optimum Tracker is proud to sign a JV agreement with a company such as Al-Rushaid Group, which truly represents Saudi Arabia’s industrial potential, capacity and expertise. The agreement could not have happened without the support of SAGIA.”
The agreement builds on the positive momentum that Saudi Arabia has seen this year in terms of inward investment. According to Invest Saudi’s Fall 2019 Investment Highlights report, more than 250 overseas businesses were granted investor licenses in Q3 2019, marking a 30 percent increase compared to the same period last year.