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Mar 23, 2023

German solar wafer maker NexWafe raises 30 million euros in financing

[1/3] This handout image of German solar wafer producer NexWafe shows

[1/3] This handout image of German solar wafer producer NexWafe shows pre-productions of ultra-thin, highly efficient, mono-crystalline green solar wafers in Freiburg, Germany, September 14, 2021. NexWafe/Handout via REUTERS

BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - German solar wafer producer NexWafe said on Wednesday it had raised 30 million euros ($33 million) in additional funding to accelerate construction of its first commercial plant.

NexWafe is one of several German solar hardware start-ups that have emerged in recent years as Germany aims to produce 80% of its electricity from solar and wind power by 2030.

Once the world's leader in installed solar power capacity, Germany wants to revive its solar panel industry and cut its dependency on Chinese renewables technology.

NexWafe, which aims to produce ultra-thin, highly efficient, monocrystalline green solar wafers, said it has raised 100 million euros so far, adding that it expects to raise additional funding in the second half of this year.

The money will go to accelerate the construction of the company's first commercial-scale facility in the eastern town of Bitterfeld, scheduled to start production in 2025, with 250 megawatts capacity per year.

"This investment marks the start of NexWafe's plan to raise substantially larger funds in the second half of 2023," NexWafe Chief Executive Davor Sutija said in a statement.

The new funds will be through a convertible loan agreement and are the first part of a Series D financing round which targets a low three-digit million euro amount.

NexWafe's current group of investors, including Reliance New Energy Limited, Aramco Ventures and ATHOS Venture GmbH, as well as new investors, including Australia's Malcolm Turnbull AC and Singapore-based hedge fund manage Keshik Capital, all contributed to the latest funding round, the company said.

The company's valuation will be determined after the series D is finished, the company added.

NexWafe said it had also agreed to work with Saudi Arabia's Aramco Ventures on a future green solar wafer manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia, with investments from Saudi Aramco's $1.5 billion Sustainability Fund.

(This story has been corrected to remove reference to the company valuation in paragraph 9)

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

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Riham Alkousaa is the energy and climate change correspondent for Reuters in Germany, covering Europe's biggest economy's green transition and Europe's energy crisis. Alkousaa is a Columbia University Journalism School graduate and has 10 years of experience as a journalist covering Europe's refugee crisis and the Syrian civil war for publications such Der Spiegel Magazine, USA Today and the Washington Times. Alkousaa was on two teams that won Reuters Journalist of the year awards in 2022 for her coverage of Europe's energy crisis and the Ukraine war. She has also won the Foreign Press Association Award in 2017 in New York and the White House Correspondent Association Scholarship that year.