Siemens, through its financing arm Siemens Financial Services (SFS), and Saudi Arabia-based Desert Technologies have come together to launch a joint venture (JV) with a view to invest in solar and smart infrastructure in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This was announced at the Expo 2020 Dubai event.
The joint venture, Capton Energy, aims to build up a portfolio of investments in projects with an aggregate capacity of more than 1 GW and will support projects providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy in areas that need it most. The company will primarily target investments in existing and greenfield solar power projects typically in a range of 20 to 100 MW of electricity generation capacity. The platform will also offer third party investors the opportunity to participate in the energy transition journey. Headquartered in Dubai, Capton is being led by Umer Ahmad, who joined as chief executive and chief investment officer in January 2022.
Speaking about the development, head of Equity Finance for SFS Steffen Grosse said, "Solar power plays a critical part in the global energy transition. The launch of Capton sets the stage to help drive the expansion of more sustainable and flexible energy systems across the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia and we're looking forward to jointly building this platform alongside Desert Technologies."
Echoing similar sentiments, Founder of Desert Technologies Nour Mousa said, "We are eager to work with Capton and Siemens to back projects and drive positive change in line with our ESG ideals. Such efforts to fully optimize the potential of the sun and technologies such as sustainable mini-grids and smart distributed energy systems will anchor our ideals and embody positive impact."
The Middle East, Africa and Asian nations have seen a steep rise in the demand for solar energy. As per International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi, the Middle East alone saw its total installed capacity for solar power generation quadruple from 2016 to 2020.
Confident of catering to the growing solar energy demands, CEO and CIO of Capton Energy Umer Ahmad said, "With Siemens and Desert Technologies as strategic partners, and the exceptional team we are bringing together within Capton, we are confident that we have the complete toolkit to bring an optimum blend of development, investment and technological capabilities, so we can meet the growing needs for solar energy in our target markets."
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