The Al-Afandi Group announced in a statement on Monday that it will build a 120-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) panel factory in Saudi Arabia, the largest one in the Middle East.

The group has sealed a property deal with the Royal Commission in Yanbu to build a fully integrated production line for solar panels on a land plot of 55,000 sq m (592,000 sq ft). The 120-MW facility, which will represent the initial stage of a multiphase project, will have the capacity to produce some 450,000 solar panels per year.

Al-Rasheed Alkibsy, Al-Afandi’s business development director, explained that the company has selected Yanbu as the location for its new factory because it has the needed infrastructure for such a project. Local utility Marafiq will be the one to provide the required electricity and processed water for the solar panel manufacturing process.

The entire production line will be fully automated. The products made at the factory will be designed specifically for harsh weather and desert applications. They will be certified by international auditors for use in the US and Europe.