This month, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) is celebrating its 17th anniversary, continuing its journey full of achievements and leadership in clean energy and green hydrogen.
Masdar was established in April 2006, embodying the forward-looking vision of the UAE’s leadership to boost the country’s efforts in energy, diversify its economy and sources of energy, and drive the process of sustainable development and climate action.
Seventeen years ago, the UAE’s leadership ordered the establishment of Masdar and instructed Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO and Founder of the Company and Current Chairman of its Board of Directors, to establish, manage and develop its business and oversee its strategy.
Subsequently, the company has achieved progress and became the first company to lead the country’s innovative efforts in clean energy and sustainability. Today, Masdar is one of the major contributors to Abu Dhabi’s economic diversification as one of the fastest-growing clean energcompanies in the world.
Masdar actively operates in over 40 countries on six continents and invests or has pledged to invest in international projects valued at more than US$ 30 billion, with production capacity amounting to over 20 gigawatts (GW). It is sufficient to supply energy to 5.25 million houses and offset 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum, equivalent to removing 6.5 million cars.
In 2022, Masdar strengthened its stature as a leading international company in the field of green energy by forging a strategic agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) and Mubadala, enabling each entity to own a stake in Masdar, to create an international investment portfolio in renewable energy and green hydrogen. The company aims to reach a production capacity of 100 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
Coinciding with the Year of Sustainability and the UAE’s hosting of COP28, Masdar will help accelerate the pace of achievin ustainable development and support the country’s commitment to becoming one of the principal developers, owners and operators of global renewable energy and green hydrogen projects.
On the occasion, Mohammed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar, said that the decision to establish the company underscored the wise vision of the country’s leadership, as well as its keenness to invest in innovative technologies and promote and develop commercially viable clean energy solutions, to support the process of national development and achieve economic diversification.
Al Ramahi stressed that Masdar, through its new structure and the expertise of its partners, will continue its leading role as a global investor in renewable energy and green hydrogen projects to double its project portfolio and explore further investment opportunities that support global climate action and help drive the efforts aimed at achieving the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.
Successful journey
Since its establihmnt, Masdar has completed many leading projects in solar or wind power. In March 2013, Masdar launched the Shams Solar Power Plant, one of the world’s largest concentrated solar power plants and the largest renewable energy project in the Middle East.
Masdar cooperated in establishing the 100-MW solar power plants with major international companies. The Shams project also supports diversifying the country’s energy mix and reducing its carbon print.
Moreover, Masdar has completed phase three of the 800-MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. The project was developed through a coalition led by Masdar in collaboration with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and EDF Renewables.
Masdar partnered with the BEEAH Group to develop the Sharjah Waste-to-Energy Plant, the first commercial plant of its kind in the Middle East.
On the global front, the company has implemented several pioneering projects, which include Hywind Scotland in the United Kingdom, the word’sfirst floating offshore wind farm. The 30-MW farm supplies electricity to nearly 6,600 houses. The company also developed the London Array offshore wind farm, which meets the needs of over 500,000 houses.
In Serbia, the company developed the Čibuk 1 wind farm, the largest utility-scale commercial wind project in Serbia and the Western Balkans. The 158-MW plant meets the needs of nearly 113,000 homes for clean and sustainable electricity, in addition to offsetting 370,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
On the regional front, Masdar developed the Dhofar Wind Farm, the first large-scale wind farm in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), generating 50 MW of electricity sufficient for nearly 16,000 houses.
In Saudi Arabia, Masdar developed the 400-MW Dumat Al Jandal Wind Farm, Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm and the largest in the Middle East. The wind farm produces electricity for nearly 70,000 houses in the kingdom.
A coalition led by Masdar with EDF Renewables and Nesma is developing a300-W utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Projects and agreements
Masdar has recently launched several solar and wind power plants and signed agreements to develop future projects in many countries. In February, the company officially launched the 200-MW Baynouna Solar Power Plant in Jordan.
Furthermore, the company recently announced the inauguration of the Ile de Romainville Solar Park, a 5-MW solar power plant with battery storage in the Seychelles.
In 2022, the company also announced the official launch of the 230-MW Garadagh Solar PV Power Plant in Azerbaijan.
Masdar recently announced its engagement in the geothermal energy sector through a strategic investment in Pertamina Geothermal Energy, one of the largest geothermal energy companies in the world.
In February, the company inaugurated a business office in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, as part of its commitment to supporting the development of the country’s renewable energy sector.
Msdar ill cooperate with the government and other partners in Azerbaijan to accelerate the growth of the renewable energy sector, in line with the country’s constant efforts to achieve its clean energy goals and transition to a low-carbon future.
Masdar has signed joint development agreements with the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) for onshore wind and solar projects and jointly launched offshore wind and green hydrogen projects with a total combined capacity of 4 GW.
The company has signed an agreement to develop a wind-power project with a production capacity of 1 GW in Kazakhstan, which is Masdar’s first investment project in the country. It has also signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy in Kyrgyzstan to develop a series of renewable energy projects in the country with a capacity of 1 GW.
In March, Infinity Power, which Masdar and Infinity own, acquired a 100 percent stake in Lekela Power, an African-based wind power platform. Infinity Power’s ttal reewable energy project portfolio amounts to 1.3 GW, in addition to projects under development that are expected to produce 13.8 GW.
Masdar recently announced its plans to develop three PV power plants in Uzbekistan with an overall capacity of nearly 900 MW. The company also purchased a 50 percent stake in the Big Beau Project from EDF Renewables North America, strengthening its presence in the renewable energy market in the US.
Green Hydrogen
Masdar is drafting advanced programmes that support the establishment of a green hydrogen economy, which will become one of the cornerstones of energy transition and a future energy source supporting global carbon reduction efforts. The company’s activities in hydrogen production date back to 2008, and it now believes that the time has come to accelerate investments in this technology to drive the world’s clean energy transition.
In green hydrogen, Masdar has adopted a smart leadership approach by developing and investing in strategic prjects ad establishing platforms that can be launched in key markets.
These efforts will help support the global carbon reduction efforts and the UAE’s efforts to achieve climate neutrality while enhancing Abu Dhabi’s prominent stature by achieving economic diversification by advancing the local green hydrogen industry.
Under this framework, Masdar has signed agreements for and implemented several projects, including a partnership with the Department of Energy-Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa Airways, the Khalifa University for Sciences and Technology, Siemens Energy and Marubeni Corporation to build a pilot green hydrogen plant in Masdar City, which will transform carbon dioxide to sustainable aviation fuel.
Moreover, Masdar has partnered with ADNOC and British Petroleum (BP) to develop clean hydrogen centres in the UAE and the UK.
In January 2022, Masdar and Engie announced a partnership with Fertiglobe to co-develop a globally competitive green hydrogen facility in the UAE wth 200 M capacity, to support green ammonia production.
Furthermore, last year, a coalition led by Masdar signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with relevant Egyptian authorities to cooperate in developing two green hydrogen production plants. The coalition aims to produce nearly 480,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.
Masdar recently signed an agreement with Port of Amsterdam, SkyNRG, Evos Amsterdam and Zenith Energy to develop a green hydrogen supply chain between Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam, to support the Dutch and European markets.
Awareness platforms
Since its establishment, Masdar has aimed to raise awareness about major challenges related to sustainability, clean energy and climate change. The company has maintained its significant efforts in this area by launching a range of initiatives and sustainability platforms, most notably Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) held annually in the UAE capital, which is a key international event that aims to increase the commitent to adpting clean energy and technologies.
ADSW also prioritises women and the youth and has established two platforms that aim to train them to become sustainability leaders.
ADSW 2023 achieved significant success and was held under the theme, “United on Climate Action Toward COP28", the first global event addressing sustainability this year.
Its agenda included the first edition of the Green Hydrogen Summit, which Masdar’s Green Energy Department hosted. More than 50 leading figures in the field of green hydrogen attended the event, as well as prominent officials in the areas of legislation and policy.
On the sidelines of ADSW, Masdar announced several international projects and agreements aligned with its goal of raising its clean energy capacity to 100 GW by 2030.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
In 2008, Masdar launched the Zayed Sustainability Prize to honour innovators and pioneers in energy and sustainable development under five categories, which are energy, food, wate, health ad international high schools.
Since its establishment, the prize has honoured 106 winners whose projects and solutions have helped make positive changes to the lives of over 378 million people. The award recently introduced a “Climate Action” category.