GCL Technology has announced that it will develop a polysilicon factory in the UAE, together with local state-owned investment company Mubadala Investment Company PJSC. In September 2023, GCL’s CEO Lan Tianshi told Bloomberg that the company was in advanced talks with Saudi Arabia for a 120,000-ton (approx. 50 GW) project, but this appears to have fallen through in favor of the UAE option. GCL’s polysilicon production is unique in that it uses lower-cost FBR granular technology, but there are several other solar factories being planned in the Gulf States. These include the standard Siemens Process polysilicon capacity, plus wafer factories, and lastly the less noteworthy cell and module segments. To get a sense of how big this Gulf State manufacturing…