Environmena sets sights on becoming Middle East solar powerhouse

Abu Dhabi-based solar energy developer Environmena's expansion plans received a major boost this week when the company announced it had secured $15m (£9.2m) in fresh cash through a funding round including clean tech investment specialists Masdar and Good Energies.

The company, which specialises in the development and rollout of both utility-scale solar farms and building integrated solar energy systems, said it would use the new funding to accelerate plans to expand operations throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Masdar and Good Energies join existing investors zouk ventures and New Energies Invest in taking a stake in the company, and both firms will now appoint representatives to the company's board. The precise details of the funding round were not disclosed, but Environmena said the deal would see Masdar become the largest shareholder of Enviromena, followed by Good Energies and zouk.

The financial backing from Masdar has been on the cards since Environmena secured the contract to develop a 10MW solar farm, the largest in the Middle East, at the planned Masdar clean tech city in Abu Dhabi.

The funding completes a good month for Environmena's expansion plans after the company announced last week that it has entered into a partnership with UK-based solar panel installation specialists Solarcentury that will see the two firms co-operate on the development of new building-integrated solar systems for markets in the Middle East and North Africa.

The move also rounds off a busy week for Good Energies, which announced that it has invested £2.5m in Cambridge-based solar panel components firm Enecsys.