IFC’s $250M Oman Solar Bet: Overcapacity, Geopolitics, and the Future of Clean Tech

When the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) approved a $250 million loan and equity package for a new polysilicon plant in Oman last week, it did so over loud objections from Washington. The U.S. executive director on the IFC board voted against the project, citing concerns that it amounts to a back-door boost for China’s dominance in solar manufacturing. Germany, the Netherlands, and Nordic countries abstained, echoing worries of worsening a global glut in solar-grade polysilicon. The controversy lays bare the current fault lines in clean tech: on one side, multilateral financiers and emerging-market players still pushing expansion; on the other,

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