Abu Dhabi’s clean energy company Masdar has opened a new office in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh to manage its projects that are part of the kingdom’s plan to boost renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Masdar will also participate in an upcoming tender announced by the Saudi Power Procurement Company for wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of 3.3 gigawatts (GW), the company said in a statement on Friday.
The world’s biggest oil exporter aims to generate 50 per cent of its electricity from clean energy sources by the end of the decade and plans to invest more than $180 billion to cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2060.
“The Saudi office will not only look over our existing assets; it will also play a key role in the development of future pipeline projects here,” said Abdulaziz Al Mubarak, general manager of Masdar in Saudi Arabia.
Masdar was part of a consortium that developed the 400-megawatt utility-scale Dumat Al Jandal project in Saudi Arabia’s Al Jouf region.
The project, which began producing electricity last year, will be able to power 70,000 homes once it is ramped up to full capacity.
Along with France’s EDF Renewables and Nesma Company, Masdar is developing a 300-MW solar plant near Jeddah, the kingdom’s second-largest city.
Masdar said it is sees “considerable potential” for its joint venture Emerge in Saudi Arabia, which plans to develop its commercial and industrial sector for solar power generation as part of its Vision 2030 economic plan.
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.
“This new office … will better enable us to help diversify Saudi Arabia’s energy mix and meet the ambitious renewable energy targets outlined in Vision 2030,” said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar.
Saudi Arabia is focusing heavily on renewable energy as it looks to meet its climate commitments, while diversifying away from oil exports.
State-owned oil exporter Saudi Aramco has established a $1.5bn sustainability fund to invest in “breakthrough” technology and start-ups to help fight climate change.
The fund, managed by Aramco’s venture capital arm, will invest in technology that supports the energy company’s 2050 net-zero goals while helping to develop new lower-carbon fuels.
The International Energy Agency on Thursday said it expects fossil fuel demand to peak or reach a plateau in all its scenarios for the first time.
Based on current policies, natural gas demand will reach a plateau by the end of the decade while oil demand will “level-off” in the mid-2030s amid rising sales of electric vehicles, the agency said in its World Energy Outlook.
Masdar has more than $20bn 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 100GW of renewable capacity in the next 10 years.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Formula%204%20Italian%20Championship%202023%20calendar
%3Cp%3EApril%2021-23%3A%20Imola%3Cbr%3EMay%205-7%3A%20Misano%3Cbr%3EMay%2026-28%3A%20SPA-Francorchamps%3Cbr%3EJune%2023-25%3A%20Monza%3Cbr%3EJuly%2021-23%3A%20Paul%20Ricard%3Cbr%3ESept%2029-Oct%201%3A%20Mugello%3Cbr%3EOct%2013-15%3A%20Vallelunga%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
