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Dubai: Masdar, Abu Dhabi's $15-billion future energy initiative, said it plans to export the technologies it is developing.
It is working on projects in the areas of solar and hydrogen energy, carbon reduction, and green designs.
"As a long-term strategic and financial initiative, Masdar aims to create an entirely new economic sector in Abu Dhabi turning it into an exporter of technology," the group said in a statement.
Since its launch in April 2006, Masdar has undertaken several initiatives.
Its $250 million Masdar Clean Technology Fund is dedicated to advancing renewable energy and sustainable technologies. The fund has already deployed most of its capital, one year ahead of schedule.
It has invested in many expansion stage companies focused on the development and commercialisation of promising technologies in renewable energy like solar, energy efficiency, water reuse and desalination.
Masdar said these technologies are relevance to Abu Dhabi, the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa region.
"Masdar has a simple promise - to be the world's centre for future energy solutions," said Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive officer.
Masdar provides market-driven incentives for carbon management, by monetising greenhouse gas emission reductions in compliance with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) framework of the Kyoto Protocol.
It is currently developing a portfolio of CDM projects with major asset owners in the UAE and the Middle East, including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) and Dubai Aluminum (Dubal).
In March 2007, Masdar announced a strategic initiative aiming to develop an Abu Dhabi-based national CCS network for enhanced oil recovery.
It started with a feasibility study conducted in the second half of 2007 to assess the economics and evaluate options for CO2 capture from industrial and power generation facilities in Abu Dhabi and delivery to oil reservoirs. The study will recommend the first carbon capture project planned for kick-off in 2008 as well as the road map to develop the national network.
Masdar recently signed an agreement with BP and Rio Tinto to conduct a feasibility study on the front-end engineering design of an industrial-scale hydrogen-fired power generation project with carbon capture and storage. The project will be the largest of its kind in the world, and will provide 500 megawatts of clean power.
"I am very pleased with the progress Masdar has made over the past 21 months. We are making bold but strategic investments; applying scale and capital to drive down the cost of renewable energy, accelerating innovation, sponsoring research and building human capital," Al Jaber said.
Masdar's progress in solar technology has been developing and will soon release an invitation to build, own and operate a 100 MW Concentrating Solar Power plant in Madinat Zayed of Abu Dhabi.
It will be the first of many such plants in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, which will feed power to existing grids.
The plant will use parabolic trough technology and is expected to be operational by the end of 2010.
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