From left: Abdulla Zayed, Masdar’s director of business and project development, Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs in the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Sungat Yessimkhanov, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Energy and Gulzhan Nalibayeva, general director of the Financial Settlement Centre for Renewable Energy Sources Support, after the signing of the power purchase agreement at Cop29 in Baku. Photo: Masdar
From left: Abdulla Zayed, Masdar’s director of business and project development, Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs in the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Sungat Yessimkhanov, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Energy and Gulzhan Nalibayeva, general director of the Financial Settlement Centre for Renewable Energy Sources Support, after the signing of the power purchase agreement at Cop29 in Baku. Photo: Masdar
From left: Abdulla Zayed, Masdar’s director of business and project development, Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs in the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Sungat Yessimkhanov, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Energy and Gulzhan Nalibayeva, general director of the Financial Settlement Centre for Renewable Energy Sources Support, after the signing of the power purchase agreement at Cop29 in Baku. Photo: Masdar
From left: Abdulla Zayed, Masdar’s director of business and project development, Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs in the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Su

UAE’s Masdar signs power purchase agreement for wind farm in Kazakhstan


Deepthi Nair
  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi's clean energy company Masdar has signed a power purchase agreement with Kazakhstan for its one-gigawatt wind farm in the Central Asian country, which is looking to boost the share of renewables in its energy mix.

The signing took place on the sidelines of the Cop29 climate change summit in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, the renewable energy company said on Saturday.

The agreement comes days after Masdar signed the investment agreement for the project with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy. The project is set to be one of the largest wind farms in the Commonwealth of Independent States region.

Abdulla Zayed, Masdar’s director of business and project development, and Gulzhan Nalibayeva, general director of Kazakhstan's Financial Settlement Centre for Renewable Energy Sources Support, signed the agreement.

“This agreement demonstrates Masdar’s long-term commitment to supporting Kazakhstan in achieving its ambitious clean energy goals. We are heavily invested in Central Asia with partnerships in a number of countries,” said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar.

Central Asia is a key market for Masdar, which aims to grow its total renewable energy capacity to at least 100 gigawatts by 2030.

Last year, the company signed a joint development agreement with Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade to develop more than two gigawatts of solar and wind projects in the country.

Masdar, which nearly doubled its clean energy capacity to 20 gigawatts in two years, has been active in Uzbekistan since 2019, with the 100-megawatt Nur Navoi solar project – the nation’s first successfully financed independent solar project.

On Friday, the company agreed to work with Socar Green, a subsidiary of Azerbaijan’s state oil company, and Saudi-listed Acwa Power to explore the development of offshore wind projects in Azerbaijan with capacity of 3.5 gigawatts.

Since its establishment in 2006, Masdar – which is jointly owned by Adnoc, Mubadala and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa – has developed and partnered in projects in more than 40 countries.

The wind farm is Masdar’s inaugural project in Kazakhstan. It is in the south of the country and features a 600-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system.

Cop29 summit in Azerbaijan - in pictures

Masdar is the lead developer for the 1GW project, along with W Solar, Qazaq Green Power (a company of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna), and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund.

Construction of the wind farm is expected to start by the first quarter of 2026. When completed, it will provide power to approximately 300,000 homes in the south of Kazakhstan and eliminate two million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, according to Masdar.

The wind farm will support Kazakhstan’s ambitions to increase renewables capacity to 15 per cent of its energy supply by 2030, 50 per cent by 2050 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Countries around the world are boosting investments in,renewable energy,to cut emissions and limit the rise in global temperatures.

International investment in renewable energy must triple to $1.5 trillion a year by 2030 to meet the global goal of tripling renewables. Despite record spending of $570 billion last year, current national plans are set to deliver only half of the required renewable power growth, the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency said in a report last month.

To meet the global goals, installed renewable capacity needs to reach 11.2 terawatts by 2030, from the current levels of 3.9TW.

if you go

The flights

Fly to Rome with Etihad (www.etihad.ae) or Emirates (www.emirates.com) from Dh2,480 return including taxes. The flight takes six hours. Fly from Rome to Trapani with Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) from Dh420 return including taxes. The flight takes one hour 10 minutes. 

The hotels 

The author recommends the following hotels for this itinerary. In Trapani, Ai Lumi (www.ailumi.it); in Marsala, Viacolvento (www.viacolventomarsala.it); and in Marsala Del Vallo, the Meliaresort Dimore Storiche (www.meliaresort.it).

CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Bio

Age: 25

Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah

Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering

Favourite colour: White

Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai

Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.

First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.

My Country: A Syrian Memoir

Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.

A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.

Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.

A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.

On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.

The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.

Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.

The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later. 

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

Updated: November 16, 2024, 7:57 AM`