Masdar, Silk Road Fund to co-invest $2.8bn in renewables

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, also known as Masdar, and China’s Silk Road Fund have agreed to jointly invest around $2.8bn (RMB20bn) in renewable energy projects in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries, mainly in the developing countries and global south.

Masdar and Silk Road Fund agreed to collaborate on joint investments in renewable energy projects developed, invested in, or operated by Masdar.

The Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy firm has significantly invested in the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, many of which are part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The company will continue to invest in these regions as part of its strategy to reach 100 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Silk Road Fund is powering a sustainable future with over 7GW of renewable energy projects across the Belt and Road Initiative regions, including the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

“The collaboration between two companies with significant investments in renewable energy projects in emerging markets and the global south will provide a major impetus to efforts to advance the energy transition,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, the CEO of Masdar.

Meanwhile, Masdar has invested in renewable projects around the world at different stages of development, with an overall capacity of roughly 20 GW and a value of more than $30bn. The company expects Europe to be a key contributor to reaching its 100 GW capacity target by 2030.

Together with Iberdrola, the Abu Dhabi renewable energy giant completed turbine installation at the 476-megawatt (MW) Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in Germany in October. Baltic Eagle wind farm will have an anticipated annual production capacity of 1.9 terawatt-hours (TWh), enough to meet the clean energy demands of 475,000 homes.

In September, Masdar reached an agreement to acquire green energy firm Saeta Yield from Canada’s Brookfield in a deal valued at $1.4bn (EUR1.2bn) – the company’s second biggest green energy deal in recent months in Spain. It follows the agreement to buy a minority stake in 48 solar plants controlled by Endesa – a unit of Italy’s Enel EUR817m.

Back home, the UAE inaugurated its first wind programme in 2023, building on the country’s efforts to develop alternative energy sources as it seeks to triple the contribution of renewable energy over the next seven years.

Masdar has built 103.5 megawatts of wind capacity across four sites, which includes a 45MW wind farm on Sir Bani Yas Island, the renewable energy producer said in a statement.

The other wind farm locations include Delma Island (27MW), Al Sila in Abu Dhabi (27MW), and Al Halah in Fujairah (4.5MW).

Read: How the GCC is fueling the transition to clean energy