United Solar begins production at its polysilicon plant in Omani

Omani solar manufacturing company United Solar Holding has started production at its polysilicon plant in Oman, with a planned annual capacity of 100,000 tons.

The announcement was made by China-based Shuangliang Hydrogen in a post on LinkedIn. The company said it has supplied four green energy intelligent hydrogen production systems to the plant.

“All equipment supplied was successfully started up for the first time and supported the commissioning of the project,” the company said in a statement.

The factory is located in the Sohar Freezone and is described as the largest polysilicon production facility in the Middle East. Once fully ramped up, it is expected to support the production of up to 40 GW of solar panels per year.

In mid-January, United Solar Holding secured more than $900 million in debt financing to complete the necessary financing for the manufacturing facility.

The final financing package included $480 million in term debt from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and its partners.

IFC’s involvement in the project was first confirmed last August. The bank’s final financing package consists of $200 million from its own account, in addition to a $50 million long-term debt facility from the OPEC Fund for International Development and $230 million committed by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Commercial Bank of Dubai and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

United Solar has also received more than $400 million in term debt and working capital facilities from local commercial banks, including Oman Arab Bank, which signed a $220 million financing agreement for the project in December.

The company’s largest shareholder is Future Fund Oman, an investment arm of the Oman Investment Authority (OIA). The financing mechanism originally supported the project to the tune of $156 million, but the investment has since increased to approximately $260 million.

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