Meba to build 15-MW PV panel factory in Bahrain - report

Engineered castings maker Metals of Bahrain, or Meba, will soon enter the solar power industry with a 15-MW photovoltaic (PV) panel factory at home, news portal Trade Arabia said Wednesday.

The production lines and technology for the plant will be supplied by an unnamed European company, which has no stake in the scheme. The project, dubbed Solar-1, is estimated to require an initial investment of approximately BHD 1 million (USD 2.7m/EUR 2.4m), Meba development manager, Faisal Khalifeh, was cited as saying to Gulf Industry magazine.

The factory will be located near Meba’s existing engineered castings plant in Aksar. It will manufacture as much as 60,000 PV panels each year, which will generate enough electricity to power around 200 local households and offset 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually.

Meba will buy solar cells from Germany, Italy and Taiwan among other countries, while it will try to source all other materials from suppliers based in Bahrain or within the Gulf. If demand for the products proves to be strong, the firm may further expand the plant’s production capacity in the future.

The company plans to initiate the construction of the plant within a few months. Once production at the site kicks off by September, the facility will become the first solar equipment factory across the 30 Bahraini islands, according to the report.

(BHD 1.0 = USD 2.652/EUR 2.393)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!