Abu Dhabi clean energy company Masdar reached first financial close on the acquisition of eight renewable projects in the US from EDF Renewables North America.
Masdar bought a 50 per cent stake in the projects located across three different states in the US last year. These include three utility-scale wind projects in Nebraska and Texas with a total capacity of 815 megawatts, and five solar photovoltaic schemes in California with a combined 689MW capacity.
“This is a significant milestone in our collaboration with EDF Renewables North America, with these projects now actively contributing to US renewable energy objectives,” Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar, said in a statement on Monday.
“As the second-largest renewable energy producer in the world in terms of installed power capacity, the US offers considerable scope for further growth, and with President Joe Biden having made clean energy investment a key priority for his administration, we clearly anticipate greater opportunities in this market.”
All three wind projects are currently in the final stages of construction and expected to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of this year, Masdar said. Of the five solar projects in California, four had begun by December last year while the fifth in Kern county will begin operations later this year.
“The US renewables market represents a highly attractive growth potential,” Bruno Bensasson, chairman and chief executive of EDF Renewables, said. “It is also a major market for EDF Renewables where we have achieved a leading position in the last three decades, both in solar and wind energies but also in battery energy storage systems.”
The power from the projects will be sold under long-term contracts to a variety of off-takers, including utilities and hedge providers.
Masdar is currently active in more than 30 countries with a total renewable energy capacity of 10.7 gigawatts. The company is aiming to double its capacity over the next five years and is targeting new projects in South East Asia, Central Asia and Israel.
EDF Renewables is a subsidiary of EDF Renouvelables, the renewable energy affiliate of the French utilities company EDF Group.
Masdar is owned by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Company%20profile
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
