GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue 005

international investment at
present and the largest wind
farm in the world currently in
operation
• Masdar has a 35% share
in the planned Dudgeon
offshore wind farm in Britain,
which is being developed
with the Norwegian partners
Statoil and Statkraft
• The Tafila Wind Farm in
Jordan is the first utility-scale
wind farm commissioned
in the region. The US$238
million project is capable
of producing 117MW
of electricity, delivering
400GWh of electricity
annually and displacing
235,000 tonnes of CO 2
• A pilot desalination
programme in Ghantoot, Abu
Dhabi, is producing 1,500
m3/day of potable water
over 15 months using four
unique technologies from
four international partners.
The programme is ultimately
aimed at the large-scale
deployment of one or more
of these energy-efficient
desalination technologies
in the UAE and potentially
across the MENA region, and
in other global locations.
• Masdar’s 100MW Shams 1
facility in the Western Region
of Abu Dhabi is still one of the
world’s largest concentrated
solar power plants, capable
of reducing CO 2
emissions
by up to 175,000 tonnes
annually.
• In partnership with ADNOC,
Masdar is developing a
Carbon, Capture, Usage
and Storage project that
sequesters industrial carbon
and enhances oil recovery
• Through the Ecomagination
2020 Partnership, Masdar
and GE are implementing the
first complete energy-neutral
wastewater treatment
process.
Why bother? What's the
importance of pursuing clean
energy?
It is crucial that we develop
clean energy to mitigate
climate change and address
domestic and global energy
demand. Our rapidly
urbanizing world will mean
that cities are likely to host
up to 70% of the world’s
population by 2050. We need
to reduce carbon emissions
and provide sufficient energy
for a rapidly growing global
population.
The UAE’s commitment to
generate 24 percent of its
electricity from clean energy
sources by 2021 shows both
our nation’s commitment
to climate action and its
willingness to invest in the
innovation needed to achieve
such an ambitious target.
THE MACRO
LEVEL OF
CLEAN
ENERGY
Q: Where are we today? What
is the current situation of
renewables?
Globally, an estimated
US$329 billion was invested
in new renewable energy
capacity last year, an all-time
high [2015 Bloomberg New
Energy Finance Report (http://
www.climateweeknyc.org/
news-media/clean-energyhit-record-investment-lastyear-bnef-report)].
Emerging
markets still account for a
relatively small proportion
of this expenditure, but the
Middle East and North Africa
(MENA) region will steadily
acquire a larger share of
newly installed renewables
capacity. At Masdar, we
are refocusing our efforts
on the further adoption of
clean energy and sustainable
development across MENA in
8
JULY 2016
Future Cities & Robotics