What we're doing right
The London array
25th October 2008
The world’s largest proposed offshore wind farm has just received an injection of cash from one of the world’s richest oil states
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative, a $15-billion clean-technology investment fund, has bought a 20-per-cent share in the London Array. The wind farm will cost an estimated $5-billion, cover 90 square kilometres of British coastal waters in the outer Thames Estuary with 271 turbines, supply 1,000 kilowatts of energy, power 750,000 homes and create 70,000 jobs.
The project’s future looked doubtful when Royal Dutch Shell pulled out this year, reportedly because rising construction costs had doubled the price tag. Shell’s departure left Germany utility company E.ON AG and Denmark’s Dong Energy AS splitting the bill.
“We believe that the offshore wind market will be a major force in the future,” said Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive officer of Masdar, which bought 40 per cent of E.ON’s share and has pledged to partner with the company on future renewable-energy projects.
This is just the start of many clean-tech investments for the Masdar Initiative, including shares in turbine companies, solar-panel factories and its flagship venture, Masdar City, a planned site near Abu Dhabi that will house 50,000 people in a hypermodern, solar-powered, car-free, zero-waste and zero-carbon “eco-town” in the desert. The city will also be home to a new university partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is intended as a major hub for sustainable-technology research and manufacturing.
Published in The Green Report in The Globe and Mail
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