en.Wedoany.com Reported - Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company Masdar celebrates its 20th anniversary. Founded on April 23, 2006, by UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan through Mubadala Investment Company, the enterprise has become a core player in the global renewable energy sector, with a portfolio capacity exceeding 65 gigawatts (GW) and a growth target of 100GW by 2030.
Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Masdar's founding CEO, stated that investing in renewable energy in 2006 was not an obvious choice but a decision requiring courage. The technology was in its infancy, unproven at scale, and not yet economically viable. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan saw not what renewable energy was at the time, but what it could become. It is this distinction between "what is" and "what could be" that determines whether one follows the trend or leads it. Masdar did not ride the wave of clean energy development; it helped create that wave.
Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi noted that Masdar's rise over the past 20 years has been driven by the UAE's ambition and foresight, anticipating the growth in demand for clean electricity and promoting economic diversification early on. Through collaboration, innovation, and investment, the company has grown into a global enterprise. Today, with rapid global growth in electricity demand, Masdar stands at the center of the international industry, providing partners with affordable, secure, and reliable power.
Masdar's journey began with a solar power plant connected to the grid in Masdar City in 2009, and has since delivered major projects including the 2GW Al Dhafra Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Independent Power Producer (IPP) project. Completed in 2023, it was the world's largest single-site solar facility at the time, powering approximately 200,000 UAE homes. Representative projects also include the world's first floating offshore wind farm (30MW, Hywind Scotland, in Scotland), Southeast Asia's largest floating solar project (145MW Cirata, in Indonesia), and Central Asia's largest wind farm (500MW Zarafshan, in Uzbekistan).
From just a handful of employees in 2006, Masdar now has over 1,100 employees across 12 countries. In 2022, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Mubadala, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) became joint shareholders. Since then, acquisitions of Spain's Saeta Yield, a 50% stake in US-based Terra-Gen, and Greece's TERNA ENERGY have further expanded its global footprint.
In terms of renewable energy applications, Masdar is partnering with the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) to develop the world's first gigawatt-scale integrated renewable energy project in Abu Dhabi: a 5.2GW solar PV plant paired with a 19 gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery system, capable of providing 1GW of uninterrupted baseload power. Masdar states that this model can serve as a replicable blueprint globally.
To support its next phase of growth, Masdar plans to deploy $30 to $35 billion in equity and project financing to achieve the 100GW capacity target by 2030, adding approximately 10GW annually. This month, Masdar signed a binding agreement with France's TotalEnergies to establish a $2.2 billion, 50-50 joint venture, merging both companies' onshore renewable energy businesses across nine Asian countries.
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