SCHMID has partnered with Nusaned Investment, an investment company owned by SABIC, and RIWAQ for developing manufacturing and technology in the field of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB).
Image: SCHMID Group, Nusaned Investment and RIWAQ announce partnership. Photo: Courtesy of SCHMID Group.
The parties have signed agreement to establish a joint venture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focusing on VRFB. The joint venture is intended to become an international technology hub in the utility-scale energy storage segment and support the Saudi’s Vision 2030 economic diversification objectives.
The new joint venture has research and development facilities in Germany and Saudi Arabia, and is planning to open a GW scale manufacturing facility in the Kingdom, which is expected to start production in 2020.
Saudi Arabia has recently announced the new energy mix, and targeted installing 57.5GW of renewable capacity in the Kingdom by 2030. The new partnership is expected to contribute directly to the Kingdom’s renewable ambitions.
Utility-scale stationary energy storage systems are expected to be critical for the new renewable capacity with stabilized and connected reliably to the grid.
The company said that the investment is aimed at strengthening the position of Kingdom in R&D and manufacturing fields for utility-scale energy storage, and development of domestic and international markets.
In addition, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also would leverage the new technology in the upcoming mega-projects it is carrying out, like NEOM and Red Sea Project.
Nusaned is a Saudi-based investment company owned by SABIC with a mandate to increase local content in the Kingdom. The company invests alongside local investors in localizing mature technologies and pioneering emerging technologies in the Kingdom.
Founded in 1864, The SCHMID Group is a Germany-based technology group , with technology centers and manufacturing sites in Germany, China, Turkey and the US.
The RIWAQ Industrial Development Company is a Saudi-based investment and project development company that builds partnerships with international technology providers for developing projects from Power, Water and Industrials sectors in the Kingdom.
In October 2018, the three companies announced their collaboration at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Forum to set up joint ventures in the fields of Energy Storage and Advanced Silicon Material.