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Masdar and Silk Road Fund to co-invest in renewables

By Eva Levesque
Chinese attendees at Cop29. The UAE's Masdar and China's Silk Road Fund signed a $3bn MOU at the climate conference Reuters
Chinese attendees at Cop29. The UAE's Masdar and China's Silk Road Fund signed a $3bn MOU at the climate conference
  • $3bn Masdar-Silk Road agreement
  • Aims to advance energy transition
  • Masdar targeting 100 GW of renewables

The UAE and China have announced an initiative at Cop29 in Baku to co-invest nearly $3 billion in renewables in developing countries and the global south.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed between Silk Road Fund (SRF) of China and UAE’s renewable energy company Masdar, SRF is set to pour up to CNY20 billion ($2.8 billion) into projects “developed, invested in or operated by Masdar”, the company said in a statement.

“The collaboration … will provide a major impetus to efforts to advance the energy transition,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar’s chief executive officer. 

The UAE is a major participant in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), championed by President Xi Jinping, which invests in infrastructure and trade projects in around 150 states. The UAE is also one of China’s most important trading partners. 

To expand BRI, China is using SRF, a medium- and long-term equity investment vehicle and one of China’s sovereign funds. It is owned by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China Investment Corporation, Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank.

SRF’s renewable power portfolio totals more than 7 gigawatts in Belt and Road regions, including the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, according to the Masdar statement.

Masdar has invested in the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa, many of which are participants in the BRI. The company said it will continue to invest in these regions as part of a strategy to reach 100GW renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Earlier this year, Masdar CFO Mazin Khan told AGBI that the company was looking for opportunities of investment in China.

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