Masdar (or Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) recently announced that it had signed an agreement with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to design, finance, build and operate a 200 MW utility-scale solar project in the country.

The UAE-based renewable energy company is expected to develop and operate the project 75 kilometers southwest of the capital, Baku. The project is expected to be in commercial operation in 2022, while the financial closing is targeted for the end of 2020.

“Our cooperation with Masdar, as one of our first foreign partners in the renewable energy sector, will make a contribution to achieve our goals regarding sustainable and clean energy, and facilitate to deliver our shared interests,” said Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The project also aims to help Azerbaijan reach its target of supplying 30% of its domestic power needs from energy generated from renewable sources by 2030.

The diversification of electricity production with the help of renewable energy sources is one of the main priorities of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Shahbazov noted.

Masdar, a subsidiary of UAE-based Mubadala Investment Company, is a developer and operator of utility-scale renewable energy projects, community grid projects, and energy services consultancy.

Recently, Mercom reported that in a significant development for the domestic renewable industry, the Masdar invested around $150 million (~₹10.7 billion) in Hero Future Energies. This was the second such strategic investment in HFE since 2017 when an investment of $125 million (~₹8.94 billion) was made by the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank.

Previously, Masdar announced that it had won a bid to develop Uzbekistan’s first public-private partnership solar project under the IFC “Scaling Solar” program. The company was to develop a 100 MW utility-scale solar project, which will be located in Uzbekistan’s Navoi region, as per the program.

Image credit: U.S. Department of the Interior [CC BY-SA]