German industrial conglomerate Siemens and Saudi Arabia’s Desert Technologies formed a joint venture to develop and invest in solar energy and smart infrastructure projects across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The platform, called Capton Energy, aims to build a portfolio of investments in projects with an aggregate capacity of more than 1 gigawatt. The company plans to invest in existing and greenfield solar power projects, which have a power generation capacity of 20 megawatts to 100MW. Solar energy has benefitted on one end from declining costs, making the technology competitive, and on the other end from ambitious net-zero targets set by countries, accelerating its adoption. The world added more than 260 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in 2020, exceeding 2019 figures by about 50 per cent.
Regionally, crude-exporting countries are increasingly turning to renewables to slash emissions and diversify their energy sources. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, plans to invest more than $100 billion in renewable energy projects, it announced in December. The UAE is investing $163bn in its Energy Strategy 2050, which targets an energy mix that will focus on clean and renewable sources. Capton Energy will benefit from its partners’ ability to supply technology and expertise to help develop new solar plants. The platform will also offer third-party investors the ability to participate in the energy transition journey. Desert Technologies is a solar PV and smart infrastructure holding company, which manufactures products at its 110MW-capacity factory in Jeddah. The company has completed more than 40 solar projects in 22 countries.