Siemens and Saudi Arabia-based solar energy firm Desert Technologies have created a joint venture (JV) called Capton Energy to develop and make investments in solar and smart infrastructure in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The JV announcement was made at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Capton Energy will aim to develop a portfolio of investments in projects with a total capacity of over 1GW. To be based in Dubai, the JV will support projects offering clean, reliable, and affordable energy in areas that require it most.
Siemens will take part in the joint venture through its financing arm Siemens Financial Services.
Siemens Financial Services equity finance head 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.”
Capton Energy will mainly target investments in existing and greenfield solar power projects that are usually in a range of 20MW to 100MW of capacity. The company will be led by Umer Ahmad in the role of a chief executive.
The newly formed entity will use the ability of its founding companies to provide technology and expertise to enable the development of new solar facilities. Besides, it will give scope to third party investors to take part in the energy transition journey.
Desert Technologies founder Nour Mousa said: “Solar power enables places without reliable energy networks to leapfrog the legacy infrastructure common in developed nations and benefit from sustainable, clean and affordable power.
“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 optimise 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.”
