Masdar News

DP World has signed a partnership agreement with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) to explore and implement renewable energy systems across its global port operations in the Middle East and Africa.The agreement aims to facilitate the widespread adoption of renewable energy and battery energy storage systems (BESS) within DP World’s global supply chain.Over the course of the three-year partnership, DP World and Masdar will work together to identify optimal sites for the potential deployment of solar and energy storage systems…

Governments have decided to pay up to revive offshore wind farm developments after rising costs put at risk multiple projects that are needed to help them cut emissions and reach climate targets.Many countries are relying on a huge and rapid build-out of offshore wind farms which have high upfront costs but over the longer term can provide cheaper energy than fossil fuel plants.But some countries' wind power capacity targets started to look unrealistic this year after developers cancelled projects in the U.S.

The OPEC Fund for International Development has signed an agreement with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to join the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) platform.The platform is a global initiative that seeks to mobilise funds for renewable energy investments. The OPEC Fund plans to support the platform with up to USD 250 million financing until 2030 to finance renewable energy solutions in its partner countries.The ETAF platform, established by IRENA and backed by the United Arab Emirates, initially aimed to mobilise at least USD one billion of capital by 2030.

German utility RWE has signed a deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to deliver liquefied natural gas to Europe's largest economy by the end of December, RWE announced on Sunday.Though the initial amount to be delivered is relatively small, it's a politically significant deal to shore up supplies of gas from outside of Russia as Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to deepen ties with the Gulf and find alternative energy sources.The deal, which includes a memorandum of understanding for multi-year supplies of LNG…

The Biden administration on Wednesday will hold a wind energy auction for two areas off the coast of North and South Carolina, its second such offering this year.The sale is part of the government's broad push to put wind turbines in federal waters along every U.S. coastline and comes on the heels of a record February wind auction off the coast of New York and New Jersey that drew $4.37 billion in high bids.U.S. President Joe Biden has said the nascent offshore wind industry will create good-paying jobs while creating the carbon-free electricity needed to combat climate change.

Danish energy trading company Danske Commodities signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the world’s first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland.Hywind Scotland, the world's first commercial-scale floating wind farm, was officially opened in October 2017. Norwegian oil and gas group Equinor owns 75%, while its partner the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, better known as Masdar, holds 25%. As the sole offtaker, Danske Commodities will take over balancing and trading of Hywind Scotland’s total volume of 30 MW. The wind farm, which is located 30 km off the coast of Scotland, powers around 20,000 households.“The agreement with Hywind Scotland marks a new chapter for Danske Commodities.

An advocacy group, led by RenewableUK and Scottish Renewables, has been launched by industry body RenewableUK to make the case for large-scale deployment of floating wind power off Britain.The Floating Wind Steering Group will meet with the aim of producing a consensus vision for the future of floating wind and the business case for its continued development in the UK. The group includes representatives from developers and supply chain companies, and from regions around the UK. Following their Cost of Energy Review, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is currently developing a White Paper which will update the Government’s electricity strategy.

One of the world’s largest offshore wind projects, the 402-megawatt (MW) Dudgeon offshore wind farm in the U.K., announced the signing and pricing of privately placed notes for the refinancing of the project’s existing non-recourse project debt, with financial close expected next week. The original financing for Dudgeon was successfully closed in May 2016.The refinanced debt consists of approximately GBP1.27 billion ($1.77 billion) in fully-amortizing senior-term loans, comprising around GBP561 million in commercial debt and a GBP706 million private placement of senior secured notes, maturing in June 2032.Both tranches were oversubscribed, reflecting strong credit features and investor interest.

The government regulator for gas and electricity markets in Great Britain Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has granted TC Dudgeon OFTO plc a licence for the link to the Dudgeon offshore wind farm.The licence allows Dudgeon to own and operate the GBP297.9 million (USD 391 mln) high-voltage transmission link to the Dudgeon offshore wind farm for the next 20 years.Transmission Capital Partners, a consortium comprising International Public Partnerships Limited, Amber Infrastructure Group and Transmission Investment, was selected by Ofgem through a tender process in which bidders compete to become Offshore Transmission Owners (OFTOs).The Dudgeon wind farm is the first project from the fifth tender round of the regime for which Ofgem has granted an OFTO licence.

As technologies mature and dramatic cost-cutting continues, the future is looking bright for offshore wind. Below are five trends to keep an eye on.Follow the LeaderOffshore wind’s established leader, Europe, will continue to show the way forward and build capacity. At the end of 2016, nearly 88 percent of the world’s offshore wind installations were located in European waters. In 2017, Europe saw a record 3,148 MW of net additional offshore wind capacity installed, with 560 new offshore wind turbines across 17 wind farms, according to WindEurope.

The world's first offshore floating wind farm has started to deliver electricity to the Scottish grid, providing power to approximately 20,000 households. The 30MW Hywind Scotland wind farm, operated by Statoil in partnership with Masdar 25 kilometers offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, was officially opened today by First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. “This marks an exciting development for renewable energy in Scotland,” First Minister Sturgeon said. “The learnings from Hywind Scotland will pave the way for new global market opportunities for floating offshore wind energy.

The World Bank's development arm plans to invest between $1.2 billion and $2 billion in Egypt over the next four years, including around the Suez Canal, its regional director told Reuters. The International Finance Corporation is looking at ports and logistics projects, Mouayed Makhlouf, the IFC's director of Middle East and North Africa, said in an interview. The government is building a second waterway to accelerate trade flows through the canal, already one of Egypt's major sources of foreign currency. Besides infrastructure and energy projects, IFC is working with United Arab Emirates' renewable energy company Masdar and Saudi Arabia-based power and water project developer ACWA Power…

The MIT Sloan School of Management launched the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, also known as (IC)3, yesterday. Using an interdisciplinary research approach, (IC)3 focuses on the strategic, managerial, and operational issues related to cybersecurity, and invites businesses to join the consortium. “The cybersecurity of our critical infrastructure is a serious national security challenge," said MIT Sloan Dean David Schmittlein. (IC)3…

Forewind, in agreement with The Crown Estate has revised the current development potential for the total capacity of the wind energy projects in the Dogger Bank Zone from 9 gigawatts (GW) to 7.2 GW. At the same time, the consortium behind London Array has announced it will not proceed with the development of Phase 2 of the offshore wind farm. The revision has been made following more than four years of offshore and onshore surveys and assessments, which have concluded that the…

DONG Energy A/S London Array, a joint venture owned by DONG Energy (50%), E.ON (30%) and Masdar (20%), have announced  an agreement for the sale of transmission assets at the world’s largest offshore wind farm to Blue Transmission London Array Limited. London Array Wind Farm is located around 20 km off the coasts of Kent and Essex on a 100km2 site. Its 175 Siemens 3.6MW turbines have a combined capacity of 630MW and are expected to produce enough electricity to power over half a million UK homes each year. The divestment takes place pursuant to the Offshore Transmission Owner (OFTO) regime. Following a competitive tender, Blue Transmission London Array Limited was in September 2012 selected by Ofgem as preferred bidder for the London Array offshore transmission licence.

The world's largest offshore wind farm (OWF) London Array has 175 Siemens wind turbines installed. Together with Dong Energy, Siemens will also be responsible for the service of the wind turbines through a long-term agreement. The wind power plant owned, developed and built by a consortium consisting of Dong Energy, E.ON and Masdar has a total capacity of 630 megawatts (MW) and will generate enough power to supply 500,000 British households with clean electricity. This offshore wind farm will reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 900…

The award recognises Masdar's work in deploying renewable energy projects including Shams One, a 100MW concentrated solar power plant in Abu Dhabi; London Array, a 1GW offshore wind farm, and Gemasolar, a 20MW concentrating solar thermal plant. Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, Masdar, invests in clean technologies, deploys renewable energy projects and is building a city that adheres to the most rigorous sustainability standards. Masdar also invests in intellectual and human capital through the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. Organised by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the award seeks to honour individuals whose actions and leadership have made a far-reaching positive impact on the environment. “I am honoured to be a recipient of this prestigious award.

Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas, S.A. has opened a new office in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. This new office is located in the Gulf Business Centre district of downtown Abu Dhabi and will be Sener’s local headquarters to develop projects in the power and process sector, the civil engineering and architecture sector, as well as the aerospace sector. Sener began to take an interest in the business opportunities available in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2007, when the company made its first contacts there. This led to the creation of Torresol Energy in March 2008.