Masdar unveils locally manufactured electric bus, buys Montenegro’s first wind farm
Staff Writer |
Masdar unveiled the all-electric Eco-Bus at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, ADSW.
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A template for future sustainable public transport solutions, the working prototype was jointly developed by Masdar and Abu Dhabi-based Hafilat Industry in collaboration with the Masdar Institute, part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
Technology partner Siemens provided the bus’s engine giving the vehicle a range of 150 kilometres per charge while minimising the size and weight of its battery.
The Eco-Bus will shortly undergo trials at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi as engineers evaluate the performance of its battery and electrical systems in the UAE’s arid conditions. Visitors to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre during ADSW will also be able to view the new Eco Bus.
Masdar signed a Share Purchase Agreement, SPA, with Akuo Energy, the French IPP in renewable energy, to enter into the Krnovo Wind Farm, Montenegro’s first wind energy project.
The agreement was signed by Niall Hannigan, Chief Financial Officer of Masdar, and Eric Scotto, Chief Executive Officer of Akuo Energy, during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2018 in the presence of Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, and other delegates.
Under the agreement, Masdar will acquire 49 percent of Krnovo Green Energy, a subsidiary of Akuo Energy and Montenegro-based owning the now operational 72-megawatt (MW) onshore wind farm.
Built in one phase, the Krnovo project comprises 26 GE wind turbines. Project financing was secured from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, and the French development financial institution Proparco.
On stream since November 2017, the Krnovo wind farm is now supplying approximately 45,000 households under a 12-year power purchase agreement with the state utility Crnogorski operator trzista elektricne energije (COTEE). It is also displacing an estimated 80,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
Krnovo is Masdar’s second wind farm in the Western Balkans. Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company is a partner in the 158MW Cibuk 1 wind farm in Serbia, the largest in the country, which secured financing in October. ■
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