Siemens will invest USD15 million in Arava Power Company, the Israeli solar power plants company. As part of the agreement Siemens will hold 40 per cent stake in the company. Arava Power develops, builds and operates photovoltaic plants in Israel. The equity investment will make it possible to build Israel’s first commercial solar farms, to be located in the region between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.
“Thanks to its intensive sunshine and steadily growing demand for energy, Israel is an ideal location for further developing our solar business,” said Peter Löscher, President and CEO of Siemens AG.
The investment is aimed at constructing the solar fields with a significant proportion of Siemens know-how, delivering technology, inverter and transformers, ensuring new projects for the group. As Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractor, Siemens will handle project management including engineering and construction of the photovoltaic plants.
Overall, Siemens has concluded a framework agreement to build solar plants with a total output of 40 megawatts (MW). The first project will be the construction of a plant with an output of up to 4.9 MW at Kibbutz Ketura, in the southern desert of Israel. Additional photovoltaic plants are already being planned for the Negev and Arava deserts and Israel’s aim is to meet around ten per cent of its total energy needs with renewable energy plants by 2020.
“This is the most comprehensive foreign investment to date for an Israeli solar energy firm,” said Johannes Schmidt, CEO of the Equity & Project Finance unit of Siemens Financial Services. “Through its early and extensive engagement in the field, Arava Power has developed into Israel’s leading solar energy company. Siemens will be supporting local solar projects with our full range of technologies, know-how and finance.”
Jonathan Cohen, CEO of Arava Power, said: “Our strategic partnership will make it possible for our country to reach its ambitious goals of clean air and renewable energy even faster.”
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