DUBAI: Dubai-based wind and solar developer Alcazar Energy Partners has raised 1.2 billion dirhams ($337 million) in new funding from investors including the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private-sector lending arm, The amount, which has a final target size of $500 million and a hard cap of $650 million, was raised for a Luxembourg-based fund named Alcazar Energy Partners II the company said. Alcazar said eight investors participated in the funding including the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. According to the company, the transaction will enable the development and construction of more than 2 gigawatts of clean energy infrastructure in selected emerging markets. “AEP-II is privileged to have the confidence of an outstanding group of public and private institutions to invest and develop in renewable energy projects, mobilizing more than $2 billion of foreign direct investment from OECD economies to build sustainable infrastructure where it is needed most,” said, AEP CEO and co-founder Daniel Calderon. AEP has signed an initial agreement with Egypt to invest in a hydrogen-based ammonia plant with a capacity of 230,000 tons per year. Several European and Asian investment grade off-takers have expressed interest in signing off-take agreements for the project, the company said. Empower shares surge on DFM debut During its debut on the Dubai Financial Market on Tuesday, Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation, or Empower, Dubai’s district cooling provider, saw its shares soar 9 percent above their listing price. In early trading on the DFM, the company’s shares rose to 1.45 dirhams, giving it a market value of about 14.5 billion dirhams ($3.95 billion). As a result of its IPO, Empower sold 2 billion shares, equivalent to 20 percent of its share capital, at the higher end of its offer price of 1.33 dirhams, valuing the company at 13.3 billion dirhams. As a result of the listing, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and Emirates Power Investment will retain 56 percent and 24 percent of Empower’s existing share capital, respectively. A fourth IPO in Dubai this year, Empower raised more than 2.6 billion dirhams from its offering, which was 47 times oversubscribed by local, regional and international investors.