Masdar (or the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) announced that it has signed an agreement with EDF Renewables North America to acquire a 50% stake in eight renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 1.6 GW to expand its renewable energy portfolio in the United States.

According to the press release, the company has acquired a 50% stake in three utility-scale wind projects totaling 815 MW in Nebraska and Texas, and five solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in California with a total capacity of 689 MW. Of these, two projects have a 75 MW of lithium-ion battery energy storage system.

The company said that it would sell the power produced from all eight projects to various off-takers, including hedge providers, utilities, and community choice aggregators under the long-term contract.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020. The company stated that eight renewable energy projects have provided around 2,000 new job opportunities in the market, and will help reduce more than 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

The 243 MW Coyote wind project and the 273 MW Las Majadas wind project are situated in Scurry County and Willacy county of Texas. The Milligan 1 wind project with a capacity of 300 MW is situated in Saline County, Nebraska. The commercial operations of all three projects will begin in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the press statement.

The Maverick 1 (173 MW), the Maverick 4 (136 MW), Desert Harvest 1 and Desert Harvest 2 with a combined capacity of 213 MW and 35 MW of storage capacity are situated at Riverside County, California. The Big Beau solar project with a total capacity of 166 MW and 40 MW of storage capacity is situated at Kern County, California. Masdar said that the commercial operation of all five projects would begin in 2021.

“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 diversification of our renewable energy portfolio,” said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.

In August 2020, the Emirates Water and Electricity Company announced that it had awarded the 2 GW Al Dhafra solar PV project to a consortium comprising Masdar, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), JinkoPower, and EDF.

Mercom earlier reported that Masdar had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan to develop a 500 MW wind farm project.