Masdar, a UAE-based energy company, has concluded the purchase of a 50 per cent interest in EDF Renewables North America’s solar and battery storage project. Located in California, the Big Beau project includes a 128 MW alternating current photovoltaic solar plant and a 40MW/160MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The solar and BESS facility is one of eight projects with a 1.6 GW capacity that the duo agreed to jointly develop.
The two agreed to develop three utility-scale wind projects in Nebraska and Texas with 815MW, and five solar projects in California with 689MW, of which two include BESS facilities with a 75MW capacity. All the projects have commenced operations, and together have the potential to offset more than three million tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
In February 2023, Masdar signed a memorandum of understanding with Austrian electricity utility VERBUND to produce green hydrogen. To export green hydrogen to Central Europe, especially Austria and Southern Germany, the two companies would concentrate on developing new methods of producing it.
