Emirati renewables giant Masdar is ramping up its solar expansion in Africa with two new agreements in Ethiopia and Zambia, according to Wam and Reuters. The agreements signed on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week will see Masdar developing projects with a total capacity of 2 GW per country. The Zambian solar projects are estimated to cost USD 2 bn and no financial details on the Ethiopian project were revealed.

First up, Zambia: The projects will be developed through a joint venture between state-owned power company Zesco and Masdar, Reuters reports. The first of the planned projects will begin “immediately” with 500 MW installed over an unspecified number of phases. Additional capacity will be added gradually to reach a total of 2 GW “over the next few years,” Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said in a statement, without specifying the total number of facilities that will be developed. The projects will be financed through a “capital injection,” not a loan, Hichilema said.

As for Ethiopia, we don’t know much yet: The agreement appears to follow the same framework as those in Zambia, starting with the installation of 500 MW as a first phase, with additional phases to develop up to 2 GW of total capacity, Wam reports. No timeline or information about Masdar’s partners in Ethiopia was revealed.

Africa’s gaining momentum in the renewables sector: The UAE’s Amea Power has also been investing in the continent. The Dubai-based company announced a new 50 MW solar power plant in West Africa’s Ivory Coast this week and has solar projects in Burkina Faso and Mali. It also recently added 20 MW of capacity to its solar project in Togo to reach 70 MW last November.

REMEMBER- Al Gore along with other climate action advocates touted Africa’s potential as the “renewable energy superpower” during COP27 last November. The US environmentalist also added that 40% of the global potential for renewables is in Africa.

AND CENTRAL ASIA IS ON THE MAP-

Masdar is bringing wind power to Kazakhstan: The company inked an agreement with Kazakhstan to develop a 1 GW wind farm, marking its first project in the Central Asian country, according to a statement released yesterday. Masdar signed the agreement with the Kazakh Energy Ministry and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund, who will jointly develop the project. An initial phase will produce 500 MW of generational capacity and could potentially include battery storage. No timeline or financial details were disclosed in the statement.

BIG PLANS, BIG CAPACITY-

The renewables giant is looking to add up to 10 GW of new capacity this year, as it continues an ambitious, multi-pronged expansion plan targeting renewable energy capacity of at least 100 GW by 2030, Executive Director of Clean Energy Fawaz Al Muharrami told the National on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The new capacity “will come from across all countries,” he added. Masdar is also eyeing new investment prospects in the US, he said, confirming reports picked up earlier this week that it would participate in the US-UAE PACE agreement.

Could green bonds be on the horizon? Masdar is looking to finance its projects using different debt mechanisms available in the market, Al Muharrami told the National. If commercial lending is scarce, the company will tap into development finance institutions, he added. It’s also eyeing a green bond issuance to raise additional funds, Al Muharrami added, without specifying when this might happen or how much the company might hope to raise from it.