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Masdar to develop 1GW of projects in the Philippines

17 January 2025

Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has signed agreements to develop 1GW of clean energy projects in the Philippines by 2030.

The agreements cover the development of solar, wind and battery energy storage systems (bess) with a total capacity of up to 1GW by 2030.

Separately, Reuters reported that the project is expected to be enlarged to up to 10GW by 2035, requiring investments of up to $15bn.

Masdar signed the implementation agreement with the Philippines’ Department of Energy and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Southeast Asian country’s Board of Investments.

Sultan Al-Jaber, UAE minister of industry and advanced technology and chairman of Masdar, and Raphael Lotilla, the Philippines’ secretary of energy, witnessed the signing of the agreement.

The planned projects support the Philippines Energy Transition Programme’s goal of achieving 35% renewable energy in power generation by 2030 and 50% by 2040.

The agreement operationalises the MoU on Energy Transition Cooperation signed in November 2024 between the Philippines and the UAE, which identified renewable energy as an area of collaboration.

The agreement “will create jobs, drive low-carbon socio-economic progress and expand global renewable energy capacity in line with the UAE Consensus”, said Al-Jaber, referring to the Cop28 agreement that called for transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Ceferino Rodolfo, undersecretary at the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry and managing head of the Board of Investments, said Masdar’s planned renewables projects will accelerate sustainable economic growth in the country’s different regions.

The project is expected to complement infrastructure development initiatives within the Luzon Economic Corridor – Subic Bay, Clark, Manila and Batangas — which is being developed as an economic hub for commerce, industry and logistics.

Located at the northern end of the Philippines, Luzon is the country’s largest and most populous island, home to the capital Manila.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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