Masdar and EDF joint venture to develop solar plant to power Khazna data centre

Emerge, a joint venture between Masdar and France’s EDF, has signed an agreement with Khazna Data Centres to develop a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic plant that will power Khazna’s new data centre in Masdar City.

As part of the deal, Emerge will provide a full turnkey solution for the project, including finance, design, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance for 25 years, Emerge said. It did not provide details on the total cost of the 7-megawatt peak (MWp) capacity project.

“This agreement with Khazna Data Centres advances Abu Dhabi’s commitment to sustainability and high-tech industry, and extends Emerge’s range of offerings,” said Michel Saab, general manager of Emerge.

Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and Paris-listed EDF set up Emerge in 2019 to explore opportunities for the development of non-utility scale renewables and energy-efficient projects in the UAE and other countries in the region.

Earlier this year, Emerge announced it is developing a rooftop solar project at the SeaWorld Abu Dhabi theme park, currently under construction on Yas Island.

“At Khazna Data Centres, we recognise the impact that data centres have on the environment, and we are designing and constructing today’s data centres with sustainability at top of mind in addition to implementing environmental solutions to help mitigate the effects of climate change,” Hassan Alnaqbi, chief executive of Khazna, said.

Khazna's Masdar City unit, which is its second data centre in Abu Dhabi, is scheduled to be operational next year, according to the company.

Khazna currently operates 12 data centres across the UAE, with a total planned capacity of 300 megawatts by the end of 2023.

Earlier this year, the UAE’s biggest telecom operator e& and artificial intelligence provider G42 officially merged their data centre services under Khazna Data Centres as they seek to cater to increasing digital infrastructure requirements in the region.

Masdar has more than $20 billion of investments globally and is rapidly expanding its renewables portfolio as countries focus on cutting emissions to limit global warming.

This year, it signed a number of new agreements to explore and develop renewable energy and green hydrogen projects after increasing its global clean energy portfolio capacity by 40 per cent in 2021. The company aims to reach 100 gigawatts of renewable capacity in the next 10 years.

Masdar is “assessing” new opportunities to boost its portfolio, Fawaz Al Muharrami, acting executive director of clean energy at Masdar, told The National in an interview earlier this month.