Germany industrial giant Siemens said Friday it's investing $15 million in Arava Power Co., a solar power plant developer.

The investment gives Siemens a 40 percent stake in Arava, which focuses its development work in Israel, where it's headquartered. Arava was founded in 2006 and is a subsidiary of Global Sun Power.

Arava plans to use the fund to build solar power plants between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea, Siemens said. The German firm's interest stretches beyond being a mere investor. It will be supplying inverters and transformers for the photovoltaic project and overseeing the engineering and construction of the projects.

The projects would total 40 megawatts, Siemens said. The first project would be a 4.9-megawatt plant in Kibbutz Ketura.

Arava and Siemens also plan to build other projects in the Negev and Arava deserts. The Negev desert is also home to a 6-megawatt solar thermal plant built by Oakland, Calif.-based BrightSource Energy.

Israel aims to have 10 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Siemens already is a formidable player in the renewable energy business. It makes wind turbines, steam turbines for solar thermal and biomass power plants. The company also is developing technologies for capturing carbon for underground sequestration.

The company said it is taking part in the newly formed Desertec Industrial Initiative, formed by a group of European companies to develop solar thermal and wind farms in North Africa and Middle East.

The consortium has discussed a €400 billion ($573 billion) plan build a solar thermal farm in the Sahara Desert. The electricity from the plant would go to European and North African countries.

Other Desertec members include E.On, Abengoa Solar, MAN Solar Millennium, Deutshe Bank and Schott Solar.