Wikipedia

Masdar

For the sustainable urban community, see Masdar City.

Masdar (Arabic:مصدر‎), also known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, is an Emirati state-owned renewable energy company. It was founded and chaired by Sultan Al Jaber in 2006 as a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company. The company is responsible for development of Masdar City, which headquarters the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Masdar
Company typeSubsidiary of State-owned enterprise
Industryrenewable energy, clean technology, Green hydrogen[1]
Founded2006 (2006)
Headquarters
Abu Dhabi
,
United Arab Emirates
Key people
OwnerAbu Dhabi National Oil Company, Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company[2]
Websitehttp://www.masdar.ae/

History

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In 2006, the UAE government established Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) to diversify the entire resources and boost the local economy.[3][4]

Sultan Al Jaber is the founder and served as the CEO of Masdar when it was founded in 2006.[5][6] In 2009, he oversaw Masdar’s efforts to secure the presence of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) headquarters at Masdar City, delivering the successful bid in South Korea.[7] In early 2016, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi was appointed as the chief executive officer of Masdar.[8]

In December 2022 it was announced that the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) would partner under Masdar brand to form a global clean energy powerhouse focused on renewable energy and green hydrogen.[9][10][11]

In March 2024, it was announced Masdar had acquired a 50% stake in San Diego, California-headquartered renewables company, Terra-Gen Power from its parent company, Energy Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.[12]

Masdar garnered laurels[13] from Austria's ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz who has been working for the company since 2022.[14][15][16] With Austrian Verbund it signed a joint study agreement about large scale green hydrogen production in Spain.[17]

COP28

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Main article: 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference

During the COP28, Masdar was reported to have hired lobbyists and a public relations firm, First International Resources, to defend its work during the COP28 after criticism from politicians and environmentalists. Masdar chairman and founder Sultan Al Jaber, was the president of COP28. According to the contract, the consultancy was to respond to and deflect negative press reports about Al Jaber.[18][19] According to The Guardian, edits on Wikipedia have been made by a user, who disclosed being paid by Masdar, to make Al Jaber’s role at Masdar more prominent on his page the day after The Guardian revealed his appointment as president of COP28.[20]

Projects

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Dogger Bank Wind Farm

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Main article: Dogger Bank Wind Farm

On 1 December 2023, it was agreed that Masdar would part of an £11 billion investment in the UK's Dogger Bank wind farm project.[21] The agreement was made at the COP28 summit that was held in the UAE.[21]

Masdar City

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Main article: Masdar City

Masdar City is a sustainable urban development project located in Abu Dhabi that was launched by Masdar in 2008 and was designed to be a zero-carbon city by 2016.[22][23][24] The city is powered in part by the Masdar City 10MW Solar Power Plant, the first grid-connected renewable energy project in the UAE and the largest of its kind in the Middle East when it was inaugurated in 2009. An additional 1MW of rooftop PV is located on the buildings developed as phase 1 of Masdar City.[24][25][26][27]

Shams Solar Power

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Main article: Shams Solar Power Station

Shams 1 is a 100 MW concentrating solar power station which uses parabolic trough technology. It displaces 175,000 tons of CO2 per year and its power output is enough to power 20,000 homes. The station consists of 258,048 parabolic trough mirrors, 192 solar collector assembly loops with 8 solar collector assemblies per loop, 768 solar collector assembly units, and 27,648 absorber pipes. It covers an area of approximately 2.5 square kilometres (0.97 sq mi).[28][29]

References

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  1. ^ "UAE's ADNOC, Taqa and Mubadala complete Masdar stake deal". www.cnbc.com. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  2. ^ "UAE's ADNOC, Taqa and Mubadala complete Masdar stake deal". www.reuters.com. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  3. ^ "Masdar Initiative Supports Clean Energy | UAE Embassy in Washington, DC". Masdar Initiative Supports Clean Energy | UAE Embassy in Washington, DC. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  4. ^ "Mohamed bin Zayed Launches Abu Dhabi Powerhouse to Develop World-Leading Portfolio in Clean Energy". www.mediaoffice.abudhabi. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  5. ^ "Abu Dhabi programme drives adoption of solar power". gulfnews.com. February 2007. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  6. ^ "Masdar Initiative Supports Clean Energy | UAE Embassy in Washington, DC". Masdar Initiative Supports Clean Energy | UAE Embassy in Washington, DC. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  7. ^ Staff Writer. "UAE submits bid for IRENA HQ".
  8. ^ Attwood, Ed (28 February 2016). "Abu Dhabi appoints new CEO for Masdar". Arabian Business.
  9. ^ "UAE's ADNOC, Taqa and Mubadala complete Masdar stake deal". Reuters. 8 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Mohamed bin Zayed Launches Abu Dhabi Powerhouse". Adnoc.
  11. ^ "Taqa, Adnoc, Mubadala complete transaction for stake in Masdar". www.gulftoday.ae.
  12. ^ Largue, Pamela (2024-03-20). "Masdar to acquire 50% stake in US-based Terra-Gen". Power Engineering International. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  13. ^ Abdulkader, Binsal (2024-02-23). "AI's impact on jobs will defy predictions: Former Austrian PM Kurz". Emirates News Agency. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  14. ^ "Geheimer Job?: Kurz arbeitet seit 2022 für Firma mit Sitz in Abu Dhabi". MeinBezirk.at (in German). 2024-04-05. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  15. ^ "Bisher unbekannter Job: Sebastian Kurz ist Direktor eines Staatsunternehmens in Abu Dhabi". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  16. ^ Fanta, Alexander; Fayed, Salsabil; Pinster, Jesse (2024-04-05). "Former Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz revealed as "director" of UAE-controlled energy firm". Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  17. ^ "E-world energy & water 2024: Grüner Wasserstoff ist die Schlüsseltechnologie für die Energietransformation". OTS.at (in German). Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  18. ^ Kerr, Simeon; Mooney, Attracta; Temple-West, Patrick (2023-08-12). "UAE-owned company hires lobbyists to deflect climate talks criticism". Financial Times.
  19. ^ Joselow, Maxine (2023-08-11). "Host of U.N. climate summit moves to 'counteract all negative press'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  20. ^ "Cop28 president's team accused of Wikipedia 'greenwashing'". The Guardian. 30 May 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Sunak wraps up 11-hour Cop28 trip with new deal for UK wind farm". The Independent. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Work starts on Masdar city". Arabian Business. March 2008.
  23. ^ Corporate Spotlight usuaebusiness.org
  24. ^ a b tlemke (2015-07-30). "What We Can Learn From Masdar City". U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  25. ^ Name (2021-04-14). "Gulf states turn from oil to embrace the energy transition". Investment Monitor. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  26. ^ Developing renewable energy projects pwc.com
  27. ^ Sankaran, Venkatanarayanan; Chopra, Ashok (2020). "Creating Global Sustainable Smart Cities (A Case Study of Masdar City)". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 1706 (1): 012141. Bibcode:2020JPhCS1706a2141S. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1706/1/012141.
  28. ^ "Concentrating solar power in the United Arab Emirates: Shams 1 project secures financial close". SolarServer. 2011-03-07. Archived from the original on 2011-03-13. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  29. ^ "Shams continues to contribute to UAE's clean energy transition". www.gulftoday.ae. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
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