UAE state-owned renewable energy developer Masdar has acquired a 50% stake in a 128MW/160MWh solar-plus-storage project from EDF Renewables North America.
Located in California, the Big Beau project is part of an 8-project, 1.6GW partnership agreement between Masdar and EDF Renewables which includes five solar projects totalling 689MW and two utility-scale wind farms representing 815MW. All of the projects are operational.
“EDF Renewables’ partnership with Masdar enjoys a successful history and today we celebrate another project to add to the growing portfolio,” said Tristan Grimbert, president and chief executive officer of EDF Renewables North America. “Decarbonisation of the energy sector will take the combined effort of developers, offtakers, and investors alike working in collaboration toward ambitious goals.”
EDF Renewables recently signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Southern California Public Power Authority for the energy produced at its 117MW Sapphire solar project in Riverside County, California. Its Desert Harvest and Maverick solar projects, also in Riverside County, are part of the co-owned portfolio with Masdar.
In its announcement of the most recent acquisition, Masdar referenced the Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE), a US$100 million dollar plan between the US and UAE to drive investment into clean energy production and deployment. US$20 billion of this has been set aside to fund 15GW of projects
Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar said, “We are committed to growing our activities in the US over the coming years and see it as an extremely important strategic market for Masdar. I look forward to growing our presence in the US as a developer and independent power producer, as part of our targeted global expansion of reaching at least 100 GW by the end of this decade.”
