Masdar takes joint stake in massive UK offshore wind project
East Anglia Three is set to deliver electricity to power 1.3 million homes from late 2026 after a €5.2 billion ($6 billion) co-investment, one of the largest offshore wind transactions in this decade.
'Masdar and Iberdrola are continuing to forge one of the largest and most powerful strategic clean energy partnerships to accelerate capacity growth in Europe and worldwide," said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and chairman of Masdar. "With demand surging due to exponential AI growth and the rise of emerging markets, projects such as these have never been more critical."
Projects such as these have never been more critical
Dr Sultan Al Jaber,
Masdar chairman
Edward Hobart, British ambassador to the UAE, welcomed the announcement on Friday. "Great to see Masdar's ongoing commitment to the UK's energy transition," he said.
A 15-year supply deal with the UK underpins the project. Through annual auctions, the country invites developers of renewable projects to bid for government-backed price guarantees for the electricity produced, called Contracts for Difference (CfDs). The sixth annual UK auction in 2024 resulted in electricity price contracts for offshore wind of £54.20 to £58.90 ($73.40 to $79.80) per megawatt hour in 2012 prices, government data showed. This was significantly higher than the £44 per MWh offered in for offshore wind in last year's auction.
Stockbroker Jefferies estimated the price awarded would be worth between £82.60 and £89.70/MWh in 2027 prices – when the first projects would be expected to go online – when inflation was included.
The financing agreement for the East Anglia Three project was signed for about £3.5 billion, with 24 international banks. Oversubscribed by 40 per cent, the facility is one of the largest of such transactions. It will cover a substantial part of the total costs of the project, without consolidating debt in any of the partners' financial statements.
Located off the Suffolk coast, East Anglia Three is set to come into initial operation in the fourth quarter of 2026, delivering enough clean energy to power 1.3 million British homes.
Masdar and Iberdrola have also announced completion of the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea. The first project of the strategic partnership is a 476MW wind farm to boost Germany's clean energy ambitions. It will supply about 475,000 households with renewable energy.
High-level forum
Masdar convened a leadership business forum in Madrid this week to strengthen partnerships and position the company for its next phase of growth in the Iberian market.
Led by Dr Al Jaber, the forum assembled senior representatives from Spanish and Portuguese government entities, regulatory bodies, utilities, institutional investors and technology providers. The discussions centred on accelerating the Iberian Peninsula's energy transformation and reinforcing Spain's role as a strategic hub within Masdar's European portfolio.
Masdar's European investments are highly diversified. In addition to a $1.4 billion acquisition of Saeta, Masdar concluded a €3.2 billion acquisition of Terna Energy in Greece and entered a €1.7 billion strategic partnership with Endesa in Spain, acquiring a 49.99 per cent stake in a 2.5GW portfolio of renewable assets – one of Spain's largest clean-energy transactions in recent years.
Since its was established in 2006, Masdar has developed and partnered in projects in more than 40 countries, with a mandate to increase its renewable energy portfolio capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2030.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Zawya
36 minutes ago
- Zawya
StanChart launches bitcoin, ether spot trading for institutional clients
HONG KONG - Standard Chartered has introduced spot trading for bitcoin and ether through its UK branch for institutional clients to cater to rising demand for crypto assets. The UK-headquartered bank said on Tuesday it is the first global systemically important bank to offer secure, regulated and scalable access to bitcoin and ether deliverable spot trading. Institutional clients, including corporates, investors and asset managers, can now trade digital assets through familiar FX interfaces, and will soon be offered non-deliverable forwards trading, StanChart said in a statement. "As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently within regulatory requirements," Chief Executive Bill Winters said in the statement. (Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Gulf Business
3 hours ago
- Gulf Business
Wizz Air responds to refund queries on X after Abu Dhabi exit
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air is actively addressing refund requests from affected passengers on X (formerly Twitter), following its decision to In an The move, described by Wizz Air as a response to 'geopolitical instability, repeated airspace closures, and regulatory challenges,' has impacted travelers who booked flights for dates beyond 1 September 2025. In the days following the announcement, numerous users took to X to seek clarity on cancellations and refunds. Wizz Air's social media team has been quick to respond to individual posts, repeatedly asking users to send private messages for assistance. In some cases, Wizz Air has also encouraged passengers to contact its WhatsApp support directly at +44 7830 738860, offering a more immediate line of communication. Scaling back Meanwhile, Wizz Air's CEO József Váradi confirmed to Reuters that the airline intends to 'scale back' its order of 47 Airbus A321XLR aircraft in light of the Abu Dhabi withdrawal. He also revealed that talks are underway with Airbus to convert some of that order into A321 models, which are more compatible with Wizz Air's revised operational focus. The airline reiterated that only Abu Dhabi operations are affected, and all other Wizz Air group flights will continue as scheduled. As Wizz Air pivots its strategy toward more stable and profitable markets, its handling of customer concerns, especially across social platforms, will be key to maintaining brand trust during this transition.
Zawya
3 hours ago
- Zawya
For Europe, 30% US tariff would hammer trade, force export model rethink
BRUSSELS - The 30% tariff on European goods threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump would, if implemented, be a game-changer for Europe, wiping out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce and forcing a rethink of its export-led economic model. European ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday remained convinced they can bring Trump back from the brink before his Aug. 1 deadline and reach a deal that would keep the $1.7 trillion two-way trading relationship broadly intact. But the wild swings in Trump's mood towards the European Union - which he has sometimes labelled as friendly and at other times accused of being set up specifically to destroy the United States - keep the 30% threat very much alive for now. "It will be almost impossible to continue the trading as we are used to in a transatlantic relationship," EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said of the 30% rate before meeting ministers and officials of the 27 EU capitals to give them an update. "Practically it prohibits the trade." EU officials had been hoping they could limit the damage by agreeing a baseline tariff around 10% - the one currently in place - with additional carve-outs for key sectors like autos. Last year the United States accounted for a fifth of all EU exports - its largest partner. Trump's bugbear is the $235 billion U.S. deficit generated by the goods component of that trade, even though the U.S. earns a surplus on services. UPEND POLICY PLANS The impact of making European exports - from pharmaceuticals to autos, machinery or wine - too expensive to be viable for American consumers would be instantly tangible. Economists at Barclays estimate an average tariff rate on EU goods of 35% including both reciprocal and sectoral duties combined with a 10% retaliation from Brussels would shave 0.7 percentage points off euro zone output. This would eat up most of the euro zone's already meagre growth and likely lead the European Central Bank to cut its 2% deposit rate further. "Inflation would likely undershoot the 2% target more deeply, and for longer, prompting a more accommodative monetary policy stance – with the deposit rate potentially reaching 1% by (March 2026)," the Barclays economists said. An earlier estimate by German economic institute IW found tariffs of 20% to 50% would cost Germany's 4.3 trillion euro economy more than 200 billion euros between now and 2028. While arguably small in percentage terms, that lost activity could still upend Chancellor Friedrich Merz's plans to push through tax cuts and spend more on renewing the country's long neglected infrastructure. "We would have to postpone large parts of our economic policy efforts because it would interfere with everything and hit the German export industry to the core," Merz said at the weekend of a 30% rate. NOWHERE TO RUN Further down the line, it raises bigger questions over how Europe recoups the lost activity to generate the tax revenues and jobs needed to fund ambitions ranging from caring for ageing populations to military rearmament. Under its existing policy of trade diversification, the EU has done well in striking preliminary deals with new partners but - as the continued delay over completion of the giant EU-Mercosur trade pact shows - it has struggled to get them fully signed and sealed. "The EU does not have different markets to pull up to and sell into," Varg Folkman, policy analyst at the European Policy Centre think tank said of the long and complex timelines involved in classic free trade deals. Some observers have argued the stand-off with Trump is what the EU needs to complete long-delayed reforms of its single market, boosting domestic demand and rebalancing its economy away from the exports which account for around half of output. The International Monetary Fund has estimated the EU's own internal barriers to the free flow of activity are the equivalent of tariffs of 44% for goods and 110% for services. Mooted reforms such as creating freer cross-border capital markets have made little headway in more than a decade. "It is easier said than done. There isn't an agreement to deepen. The barriers are imposed by the EU members themselves to benefit their own," Folkman said of the web of national regulations. How all this plays into the EU's negotiating strategy in the less than three weeks ahead remains to be seen - but for now, the bloc has stuck to its line of being open to talks while readying retaliatory measures if they break down. One thing that might persuade Trump to reach a deal, some European observers suggest, is that the lingering uncertainty may by itself push back the timing of the Federal Reserve interest rate cut the U.S. president so desires. "The latest developments on the trade war suggest that it will take more time to get a sense of the 'landing zone' on of course raises uncertainty for everyone, including the Fed," AXA chief economist Gilles Moec said. "With this new for cutting quickly get even harder to justify."
