Masdar boosts US footprint with California hybrid power plant

Solar and storage project is latest collaboration with EDF Renewables North America

Abu Dhabi-based clean energy firm Masdar has expanded its footprint in the US by taking a 50% stake in a hybrid power project from EDF Renewables North America.

The Big Beau project in California is a 128MW solar PV plant plus a 40 MW/160 MWh battery energy storage system.

It is one of eight projects in which Masdar has partnered with EDF Renewables North America.

Masdar chairman Dr Sultan Al Jaber – who is also President-Designate of COP28 which will be held in the UAE this year – said Big Beau was “making an active contribution to US clean energy targets”.

“If we are to keep the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees alive, we need to see countries coming together in concerted action – one of the key areas of focus for the upcoming COP28 in the UAE.

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“Partnerships between companies like Masdar and EDF Renewables are also vital in ensuring we hold back emissions, not progress.”

EDF Renewables North America president Tristan Grimbert said decarbonization of the energy sector “will take the combined effort of developers, offtakers and investors alike working in collaboration toward ambitious goals”. 

Masdar and EDF Renewables North America agreed in 2020 to partner on a portfolio of 1.6GW-worth of projects, including three utility-scale wind projects in Nebraska and Texas totalling 815MW and five solar projects in California totalling 689 MW.

In January, UAE and US officials announced that $20 billion will be allocated to fund 15GW of clean energy projects in the US before 2035, led by Masdar and a consortium of US private investors, under the Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE) initiative between the two countries.

Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said Masdar was “committed to growing our activities in the US over the coming years and see it as an extremely important strategic market”.

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