UAE’s biggest clean-energy firm to look at deals in US, Europe

The United Arab Emirates’ biggest renewable-energy company will make acquisitions and sell bonds as part of a plan to more than double its operations this decade and help the country achieve a net-zero target.

Masdar is interested in acquisitions of power firms in places such as the US and Europe, chief executive officer Mohamed al Ramahi said in an interview at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

“Our ambition is big,” the CEO said. “We will consider all possibilities when it comes to financial strategy. Green bonds, specifically, are something we might consider.”

Masdar, based in Abu Dhabi, is leading a consortium that will build a 10-gigawatt wind plant in Egypt. Al Ramahi said the $11bn project will start to produce power in around five years. It will be up to the Egyptian government to decide if the electricity is exported or only used locally, he said.

100GW ambition
The company is a key part of the UAE’s goal to neutralise planet-warming emissions within its borders by 2050. OPEC’s third-biggest oil producer wants to boost solar, hydrogen and nuclear-generated energy to achieve that aim.

Masdar can today produce 20 gigawatts of clean power and wants to increase its capacity to 100 gigawatts in five years, Al Ramahi said. That’s roughly double the target of BP.Cle

Masdar is owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., wealth fund Mubadala and Taqa, the emirate’s main utility. It recently bought UK-based Arlington Energy, a developer of battery-energy storage. It also signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year to buy a stake in a BP-led project to make green, or carbon-free, hydrogen in Teeside in the north of England.

“This is a very strategic, innovative project not only for us as partners and developers of this, but also for the UK,” al Ramahi said. “We are hopeful that things will be concluded soon.”