As Egypt’s economy expands, so do the opportunities to provide energy from renewable sources, said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar. Ravindranath K / The National
As Egypt’s economy expands, so do the opportunities to provide energy from renewable sources, said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar. Ravindranath K / The National
As Egypt’s economy expands, so do the opportunities to provide energy from renewable sources, said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar. Ravindranath K / The National
As Egypt’s economy expands, so do the opportunities to provide energy from renewable sources, said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar. Ravindranath K / The National

Energy

Masdar to develop 800MW wind farm projects in Egypt

Clean energy firm also partners with Cepsa to explore international projects

The National

January 18, 2018

  • English
  • Arabic

Masdar plans to develop 800 megawatts (MW) of wind projects in in Egypt in partnership with the country's Elsewedy Electric and Japan’s Marubeni, it said on Thursday, as the Abu Dhabi renewables energy firm expands its regional remit.

The renewables firm did not provide a figure for the investment needed to develop the projects.

Masdar already has solar projects in the North African country, which aims to generate 42 per cent of its power from renewables by 2025.

“As Egypt’s economy expands, so do the opportunities to provide energy from renewable sources,” said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar. “We are ready to tap into our existing experience with renewable energy projects, while collaborating with industry experts like Elsewedy Electric and Marubeni in Egypt, to deliver on the country’s visionary plans for the future.”

Masdar’s wind portfolio includes the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind farm currently in operation. The company recently launched another large-scale offshore wind project in the UK, Dudgeon, off the coast of North Norfolk in East Anglia.

Its other wind energy projects include the Middle East’s first utility-scale wind farm (Tafila in Jordan), the largest wind project in the Western Balkans (Cibuk 1), and Hywind Scotland, the world’s first commercial-scale floating wind park.

Separately, Masdar signed an agreement with Spanish energy firm Cespa, (which, like Masdar, is wholly owned by Abu Dhabi strategic firm Mubadala Investment Company) to explore renewable energy project collaborations, especially in wind and solar.

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Since 2006, Masdar has invested in projects with a combined value of US$8.5 billion, with the company’s share of this investment amounting to $2.7bn. The electricity generating capacity of these projects, which are either fully operational or under development, is nearly 3 gigawatts.

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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.”

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