New RE Venture With 8 GW Initial Pipeline

• Masdar and W Solar Investment have announced a JV called MW Energy Limited to focus on clean energy development across the globe
• It will initially work on realizing a pre-identified pipeline of over 8 GW capacity
• Geographically, the focus will be on Africa, and CIS nations along with exploring opportunities in other geographies

With an initial pipeline worth 8 GW of clean energy projects, Abu Dhabi's Masdar and local diversified business group Alpha Dhabi Holding's solar subsidiary W Solar Investment have launched a clean energy joint venture (JV) with an initial pipeline of projects worth 8 GW.

MW Energy Limited, as the JV company, will initially pick up the more than 8 GW pre-identified projects with focus on Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) namely Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Georgia, along with other geographies.

It will also explore and develop other opportunities to meet the shareholders' clean energy objectives, stated Masdar while announcing the JV.

MW Energy plans to raise funds from both public and private sectors and also support the UAE led initiative called Etihad 7 innovation program. The program was recently launched by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) to secure funding for African renewable energy projects with an aim to supply clean electricity to 100 million by 2035.

In Africa, Masdar already has a sizeable presence in the clean energy space, in the form of a JV with Infinity Energy called Infinity Power focused on utility scale and distributed solar and wind energy in Egypt and Africa. In March 2021, it also announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in March 2021 with the Ethiopian government to develop 500 MW solar power capacity (see Masdar To Develop 500 MW Solar PV Capacity In Ethiopia).

Among CIS markets, Masdar dominates the Uzbek solar market having won 4 solar energy auctions organized by the country's energy ministry, by quoting the most competitive bid (see Masdar Wins Uzbek's Sherabad Solar Power Auction).

Masdar's CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said the MW Energy JV will expand its footprint into new geographies and respond faster to market opportunities.

Recently, Masdar also announced another solar JV in Indonesia to capture opportunities in the country's commercial and industrial segment (see Masdar Expands Into Indonesian Solar Space).