IFC's $50M close caps United Solar's $1.6B polysilicon build in Oman
What's the deal? United Solar PolysiliconDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed a $50 million equity investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group. The tranche completes an approximately $1.6 billion capital raise for the company's polysilicon plant in Sohar, Oman.
Why the backer matters: IFC has now arranged and mobilised more than 30% of total project financing, a stamp of multilateral confidence that private capital alone rarely provides. "The closing of IFC's investment completes our approximately $1.6 billion capital raise," said Binyam Giorgis, group chief financial officer of United Solar Holding.
What's the endgame? The 100,000-tonne-per-year plant in Sohar Free Zone began operations in January 2026 and is expected to reach full capacity by end of 2026. It produces high-purity polysilicon, the key raw material for solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules.
The backing behind it: The Oman Investment AuthorityDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, through Future Fund OmanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, is United Solar's largest shareholder. The build ties into Oman Vision 2040, the country's strategy to diversify away from oil and create nearly 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Why it matters commercially: United Solar positions itself as a Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC)-compliant supplier offering fully traceable polysilicon. That designation carries weight for buyers in the US and other markets, where clean-energy sourcing rules have tightened.
At full capacity, the plant is expected to produce enough polysilicon annually to support around 40 gigawatts of solar modules — enough for up to 12 million homes — while avoiding an estimated 8.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
The signal: The close makes the Sohar plant the Middle East's largest and only operational polysilicon facility, per IFC. It marks Oman as a new node in a global solar supply chain where buyers increasingly seek alternatives to China-centric sourcing.
Read more: Oman Observer
Image credit: Kansas Poetry (Patrick)
