The News
COP29 in Baku has provided Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar ample opportunity to cut deals in support of its aggressive global expansion plans — and help its chairman Sultan Al Jaber cement his legacy as the COP president who got the world to agree to a tripling of renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade.
Despite rising costs and thinner margins in the renewables sector, the energy firm is forging ahead with plans to co-develop offshore wind along Azerbaijan’s coast on the Caspian Sea. Masdar signed an agreement with SOCAR Green and Saudi-listed ACWA Power to develop 3.5 gigawatts of capacity, marking the first offshore project for Azerbaijan, a natural gas powerhouse that analysts say can be a net exporter of clean electricity.
Masdar also signed agreements with Albania Power Corp. and Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy. A new Uzbek wind farm developed by Masdar is slated to deliver clean energy to 300,000 homes, with two others in the pipeline as the country aims to be 40% powered by renewables by 2030.