Mulk takes solar leap

A prototype of Mulk's solar trough.

Sharjah company to profit from Indian feed–in tariffs.

Mulk Holdings, a Sharjah-based company that produces glass and aluminum facades, is to branch out into solar technology by supplying solar troughs to a joint venture in India.

Mulk Renewable Energy, a subsidiary, will hold a 25% equity stake Phase I of the plant, which is to be built in Banglore. Indian company Aditya Solar Power Industries will hold the majority stake. The plant will have an initial net power capacity of 40 MW once the first stage has been completed in 2012, rising to 200 megawatts by 2013.

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Mulk Renewable Energy is set to profit through the joint venture by receiving generous feed-in tariffs from the Indian government. A lack of similar government policies in the Middle Eastern countries means that renewable energy faces much greater hurdles in the region.

“No businessman can go and invest in a solar plant and compete with coal, so the governments here need to offer more,” commented Mulk chairman Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk.

According to a company spokesperson, Mulk will be the first company in the UAE to produce solar panels. Their solar troughs are produced in Sharjah using aluminum, rather than the customary glass mirrors, which the company says provide extra durability and weight reductions.

The contracts for the delivery of the solar panels and the joint venture were signed on April 7 by Ul Mulk and Aditya boss R. T. Mukunda at Mulk’s headquarters in the Sharjah Hamriyah free zone.