Masdar to buy US wind farms

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, popularly known as Masdar, on Tuesday said that it was acquiring John Laing Group's stakes in two wind farms in the United States, its first North American renewable energy investment.
Masdar said it was buying stakes in the Rocksprings wind farm in Texas and the Sterling wind farm in New Mexico. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019, Masdar said, but the value of the deal and the size of the stakes purchased were not disclosed.
Following the transaction, Masdar will own interest in a partnership with French renewable power producer Akuo Energy, with whom Masdar already has an ongoing partnership - the 72 megawatt (MW) Krnovo Wind Farm, Montenegro's first wind energy project.
The 149MW Rocksprings project was commissioned in 2017 and comprises 53 of General Electric's (GE) 2.3MW wind turbines and 16 of its 1.72MW turbines at a site in Val Verde County, taking advantage of the exceptional wind conditions characteristic of the Texas region.
"The United States provides excellent commercial potential in the long-term, with a record 6.3 per cent of the country's electricity generated from wind in 2017. We aim to increase our investments in the US in the next few years as we continue to strengthen our current partnerships and explore new business opportunities," Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of Masdar, said.
The Sterling project in Lea County, New Mexico has a total installed capacity of 29.9MW provided by 13 GE 2.3MW turbines and was also commissioned in 2017.
Spain and Portugal
Meanwhile, Masdar and Cepsa have strengthened their collaboration in renewables by signing a Partnership Agreement at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week to grow the portfolios of both companies in wind energy and solar PV.
The focus will be on proven clean technologies, wind and solar PV (photovoltaic), in Spain and Portugal, where Cepsa hopes to achieve a capacity of 500-600 MW in the next five years.
"After the initial phase of screening market access opportunities in several geographies, we have agreed Iberia to be the initial focus for our joint growth strategy. This step will allow us to combine synergies and expertise in one of the leading renewable markets in the world," Pedro Miró, Cepsa's CEO, said.
In another development, Masdar and a Finnish wind and solar developer and fund manager Taaleri Energia signed an agreement for the establishment of a joint venture with the aim of developing renewable energy projects in Central and Eastern Europe.
Karri Haaparinne, deputy chief executive officer of Taaleri, and Bader Al Lamki, executive director of Clean Energy at Masdar, signed the agreement.
The joint venture aims to build upon the success of Masdar and Taaleri's ongoing activities in the Western Balkans by expanding their collaboration through the joint development of onshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. - business@khaleejtimes.com