China’s Trina building solar panel manufacturing base in UAE: Chinese giant solar panel maker Trina Solar has signed an MoU with the UAE’s AD Ports and China-based investment firm Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Cooperation and Investment (JOCIC) to build a large-scale PV manufacturing base in the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (Kezad), English-language Chinese news outlet Yicai Global reported on Thursday. No financial details or a timeline for the project were disclosed.

The details: The facility — which will be built in three phases — will have an annual production capacity of approximately 50k tons of high-purity polysilicon, 30 GWs of crystalline silicon wafers, and 5 GWs of photovoltaic modules. Trina Solar will send representatives to the UAE to conduct field research and draw up feasibility studies and business investment plans, the news outlet reports.

REMEMBER- Trina Solar has supply agreements across the region: Trina Solar supplied the 45.5 MW solar station powering Saudi Arabia’s Jubail 3A water desalination plant with 700 watt PV modules last August. The firm delivered 800 MW of solar modules to Abu Dhabi’s 2 GW Al Dhafra solar plant in July. Back in March, the PV maker signed a five-year partnership and distribution agreement with Yemen’s Al Rabei for panels to generate some 500 MW of solar power.

About JOCIC: JOCIC is a Chinese state-owned company that was established in 2017 to fully manage, operate, and develop the China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone, according to its website. Its founding came two years after China signed an agreement with the UAE to launch the China-UAE demonstration zone. JOCIC is a JV between China Jiangsu International, the China National Nuclear Corporation, and four of China’s national development zones.