UAE-owned renewable energy company Masdar has penned an agreement with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to develop up to 10GW of renewables in the country as Masdar continues to expand its international presence.
Announced yesterday, the agreement, which Masdar said was the “largest such signing in Azerbaijan’s history”, will see the company develop both solar and wind projects with a combined capacity of 4GW, with the right to develop an additional 6GW in a later second phase.
Two implementation agreements have been signed for the first phase. The first related to 1GW of solar PV and 1GW of onshore wind projects. The second covers integrated offshore wind and green hydrogen projects with a capacity of 2GW. Details on the second phase were not disclosed.
“Today’s announcement also underscores the UAE and Masdar’s position as a global leader in renewable energy, as we progress our strategy toward a portfolio of at least 100GW globally,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, minister of industry and advanced technology and chairman of Masdar, said.
Under the agreement, meanwhile, Masdar will explore opportunities to “implement processes for the export of electricity”, it said in a media statement, adding that the second phase also includes measure to export power outside of Azerbaijan.
Masdar – which is targeting 50GW of renewables by 2030 – has signed a number of notable international projects this year. In April, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Energy to explore the development of 1GW of renewables, and in January it set up a new joint venture (JV) to focus on developing renewables across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa with an initial pipeline of 8GW.
Finally, also in January, Masdar signed an MoU with three other energy companies to develop 1.2GW of solar in Indonesia that is intended to export electricity to Singapore.
The above announcements followed a restructuring of the company’s ownership. In December last year, the UAE government announced Abu Dhabi energy companies TAQA, ADNOC and Mubadala would join forces as shareholders in Masdar.