Beijing, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Recently, a group of Chinese new energy companies, including JinkoSolar, announced intensively that they will "settle" photovoltaic and wind power projects in Saudi Arabia in the form of joint ventures. Qian Jing, Vice President of JinkoSolar, recently stated at a media conference that investing in photovoltaic projects in Saudi Arabia will accelerate JinkoSolar's transformation from "global sales" to "global manufacturing", and may be a feasible solution to break the "low profit era".
Building battery cells in the desert
Amidst the global wave of low-carbon development, Saudi Arabia is actively seeking energy transformation, while China has also sparked a "Middle East fever" for new energy investment.
On the evening of July 16th, JinkoSolar announced that it had signed a shareholder agreement with Saudi Public Investment Fund and Saudi energy equipment company Vision Industries. The three parties will invest in the establishment of a photovoltaic joint venture company to build and operate photovoltaic cell and module projects in Saudi Arabia. The production capacity of the two links will reach 10GW each, with an expected total investment of about 985 million US dollars. The three parties will hold 40%, 40%, and 20% of the shares respectively.
Qian Jing stated that Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest developing regions for new energy in the Middle East under the guidance of the national "2030 Vision", and JinkoSolar has already occupied nearly 70% of the market share in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is not only financially strong, but also has a strong industrial foundation and the advantage of low green electricity prices. If we build a second factory in the Middle East, we will still choose Saudi Arabia
However, there is no precedent for "making battery cells in the desert", and future production in Saudi Arabia will inevitably face many challenges. Leaving aside other factors, cultural, linguistic, and qualified talents may still encounter unimaginable difficulties in the actual implementation and operation of projects. The first point of globalization is that enterprises need to increase inclusiveness and lower expectations, "said Qian Jing.
Qian Jing stated that Jingke's goal is to support the local industrial chain, gradually drive domestic suppliers to go global or jointly cultivate local suppliers by leveraging the main chain effect, and improve the localization rate of Saudi Arabia's supply chain through its global centralized procurement platform and shared center.
Qian Jing revealed that the 10GW high-efficiency battery and component project is expected to be put into operation around early 2026. The battery cell type is TOPCon, and the mass production efficiency of the battery is expected to reach over 27%. The initial raw materials mainly rely on domestic procurement. Saudi factory products are mainly supplied to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region, which means that product pricing does not need to consider costs such as shipping, but only needs to balance premium factors such as local production costs.
Open the global manufacturing "2.0 version"
Currently, in the context of trade protectionism and anti globalization, many countries are gradually tightening their new energy trade policies, and the industry has entered the "era of low profits", which has become the norm.
Qian Jing believes that the globalization trend of the photovoltaic industry will undergo a significant transformation, gradually moving from passively responding to market changes to actively laying out the global manufacturing field. JinkoSolar is no longer solely focused on overseas market sales, but will focus on establishing local manufacturing. The next step is to shift from "going global" to "manufacturing", and from global marketing to global manufacturing.
If JinkoSolar's factories in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the United States are the 1.0 version of our global manufacturing, then the Saudi factory is undoubtedly the 2.0 version of JinkoSolar's global manufacturing, representing the opening of a new model of JinkoSolar's globalization, from passive to active, from solo to leveraging, from full capital to joint ventures, from capacity output to technology, experience, management, and supply chain output, "said Qian Jing.
Qian Jing stated that the significant difference between version 2.0 and version 1.0 is that the product will be mainly supplied to the local market in the production area, with a focus on local manufacturing and usage. In terms of mode, Jingke will transition from wholly-owned to joint venture, and may even adopt investment methods such as technology, experience, marketing, and branding. In terms of organizational and management structure, core management will be selected from a professional perspective to form a "dream team", which can maximize the complementary advantages between Jingke and its partners, improve management efficiency and decision-making quality.
In Qian Jing's view, no matter how good the cost-effectiveness of the product is, how high the efficiency and power are, the production capacity that is not needed is excess capacity. In the future, local manufacturing, green power manufacturing, supported by local service teams, and one-stop solutions for light storage will be the production capacity that is needed.
Now that JinkoSolar's fourth overseas factory has settled in Saudi Arabia, the public is curious about where the fifth overseas factory will be located? Qian Jing said that according to the logic of "producing wherever there is a market, large capacity, and high local market share", there may be an answer. Jingke will not give up any market and will win the market through technology output and local cooperation.