Although a major oil producer, the UAE is the MENA region’s front-runner in adopting renewables into its energy mix, accounting for 68 percent of the region’s total installed renewable energy capacity in 2018.
Leading these efforts is Masdar – the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company – a wholly owned Mubadala company, which has evolved over the past 13 years into a global renewable energy leader and one of the largest developers of off-grid solutions in the world.
Masdar’s renewable energy portfolio grew by 33 percent in 2018, reaching nearly 4GW of gross capacity either in operation or under development in more than 25 countries. To date, Masdar has invested in clean energy projects with a combined value of US$12 billion. Together, these projects displace nearly 5.4 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. The total electricity production of all Masdar’s solar and wind projects is just over 10,680 GWh annually.
Locally, a major solar energy project is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, which will be the largest single-site solar park in the world on completion, with a planned capacity of 5GW by 2030. Shua’a Energy 2, a partnership between Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Masdar and EDF Renewables, is developing the 800MW third phase of the project.
In Jordan, the 200MW Baynouna Solar Energy Project will power around 160,000 homes and displace 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year when complete in 2020.
Harnessing wind energy has been another major focus of Masdar since its inception in 2006. Today, the onshore and offshore wind farms in which it is a partner are supplying thousands of homes in Europe and the Middle East. It has also delivered wind projects in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development in the Pacific Islands, Seychelles, and the Caribbean.
In the UK, Masdar is a partner in three offshore wind farms with a combined generating capacity of more than 1GW: London Array, the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, and Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating wind farm.
Masdar’s wind portfolio is set to witness a capacity increase of more than 600MW as a number of new projects come on stream. These include the 50MW Dhofar Wind Project in Oman, the GCC’s first utility-scale wind farm, and Čibuk 1, which at 158MW is the largest commercial wind project in Serbia. Both projects are due for completion this year.
At Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January, Masdar announced its entry into North America through a stake in two wind farms in Texas and New Mexico.
Masdar will also shortly embark on the development of the 400MW Dumat Al-Jandal project, Saudi Arabia’s first and the Middle East’s largest wind farm, in partnership with EDF Renewables.
The total generating capacity of Masdar’s wind assets, either operational or under development, is just over seven million MWh annually, while their total displacement of carbon dioxide is more than three million tons annually.
These projects are positioning Mubadala as a global leader in renewable energy.
