The United Arab Emirates has reinforced its role as a global clean energy leader in 2025, advancing a wide portfolio of solar projects across Asia, Africa, and Europe through national companies.
Earlier this year, the UAE signed a tripartite partnership with Italy and Albania to develop large-scale renewable projects, with part of the power to be exported to Italy. Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has accelerated its international expansion, acquiring a 49.99 percent stake in four Spanish solar plants with a combined capacity of 446 MW. In Indonesia, Masdar signed agreements with state utility PT PLN to develop floating solar projects, including a plant at the Jatigede Dam in West Java, due for completion in 2027, and to expand the Cirata Floating Photovoltaic Plant, the largest in Southeast Asia. In Saudi Arabia, Masdar and partners GD Power and Korea Electric Power Corporation reached financial close on the 2 GW Al Sadawi project, while its joint venture Emerge signed a long-term solar supply deal with Riyadh’s Misk City.
UAE-based Global South Utilities (GSU) has also advanced projects in Africa and the Middle East, including a 50 MW plant in Madagascar, a $220 million solar industrial complex in Egypt, and new facilities in Yemen and the Central African Republic that will provide power to more than 600,000 households. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development inaugurated a 6.3 MW solar plant in the Comoros, further extending the UAE’s clean energy footprint.
