Abu Dhabi government-owned green energy firm Masdar plans to invest jointly with Development Bank of Japan in solar and wind projects in OECD countries as part of a strategy to diversify the energy mix through renewables.
The initiative will be through a renewable energy project platform, Masdar said on Monday.
"Given the lack of financing available to fund operational renewable energy projects, it is an opportune time to invest in projects that can provide stable returns to Masdar Capital and DBJ," chief executive Sultan al Jaber said.
Masdar Capital and DBJ both plan to commit significant capital to a platform that will target stable returns from investing in renewable energy operating assets that use bankable technologies, he said.
This platform will look to make minority equity investments in operational assets, targeting assets managed by reputed players in the renewable energy space, al Jaber said.
Initially, the platform will target onshore wind and solar photo voltaic assets in countries with relatively low sovereign risk. A pipeline of over 1 gigawatt of operational solar and wind assets fitting the platform's mandate have already been identified.
Masdar Capital, the investment arm of Masdar, has over $540 million invested across the Masdar Clean Tech Fund and DB Masdar Clean Tech Fund, jointly managed with partners.
Masdar also said it was investing in solar power plants in Afghanistan and Tonga as part of its international support programme. Work has just begun in Tonga and on completion the project will deliver 13 percent of the island's total power needs, said al Jaber.
In war-torn Afghanistan, 600 homes in eight villages will be provided solar power, he said.
