Masdar strikes project deals in Angola and Kazakhstan

Masdar

Abu Dhabi state clean energy company Masdar has continued to announce new projects on the sidelines of Cop28 summit in Dubai, focusing on Angola and Kazakhstan.

The UAE’s clean energy company signed a concession agreement with Angola’s ministry of energy and water to build and operate a ground-mounted solar power project in the Quipungo region, Hulia province, southern Angola on the sidelines of Cop28 summit in Dubai.

The project, which plans to develop a 150 megawatt (MW) solar PV project in Angola to deliver renewable energy to 90,000 homes, will significantly support the country’s goal of increasing its national electrification rate to around 60 percent by 2025.

“Africa has what it takes to become the world’s renewable energy powerhouse. At Cop28 and beyond, we will continue to work with Africa for Africa,” said Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar and Cop28 president.

Developing renewable energy capacity is the key to unlocking Africa’s enormous economic potential, added Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar.

“Our mission is to fast-track and scale projects so we can deliver 10GW of clean energy in Africa by 2030.”

Masdar is Africa’s largest renewables energy company through its platform Infinity Power. The company recently joined forces with Africa50, a pan-African infrastructure investment platform and has committed to mobilize US$10 billion in clean energy finance,

Once completed, the solar facility in Angola will displace over 224,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, the equivalent of removing 50,000 cars from the roads.

Masdar also announced it will build a large-scale wind power project with a 1-gigawatt (GW) capacity in Kazakhstan.

Masdar and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund signed the joint development agreement at the Cop28 summit.

“The UAE and Kazakhstan have a strong track record of cooperation and collaboration in the energy space. In particular, this 1GW wind project, led by Masdar, will make an important contribution to increasing the country’s energy security and renewables capacity,” said UAE energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei.

The project will play an important role in strengthening cooperation between the two countries, as well as in accelerating the Central Asian country’s aim to increase renewables capacity to 15 percent of its energy supply by 2030 and to 50 percent by 2050.

Kazakhstan intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Masdar is active in more than 40 countries with a total electricity generation capacity of more than 20 GW.

The company’s growth plan is to reach 100 GW and one million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.

Masdar last week agreed to acquire a 49 percent stake in Germany-based RWE’s twin Dogger Bank South offshore wind projects in the UK, representing an £11 billion ($14 billion) investment.