According to Forbes, Masdar has broken ground on a groundbreaking solar-plus-battery project in Abu Dhabi that’s the world’s first gigawatt-scale renewable installation designed to operate 24/7. The system pairs one gigawatt of solar generation with a massive 19 gigawatt-hours of battery storage using lithium-iron-phosphate technology, delivering continuous power to the Emirates Water and Electricity Company without subsidies. This comes as the International Energy Agency projects global electricity demand from data centers and AI could reach 945 terawatt-hours by 2030—nearly equal to Japan’s entire annual electricity use. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, framed the $6 billion project as proving that economic growth and climate action can coexist, while Dr. Ibraheem Almansouri, Masdar’s engineering director, emphasized this provides the “steady current that digital infrastructure requires.” The project will prevent 5.7 million tons of CO2 emissions and serves as a blueprint for similar ventures in Kazakhstan and beyond.
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The Real Breakthrough Here
For years, the biggest knock against renewables has been their intermittency. Solar doesn’t work at night, wind doesn’t blow consistently—you know the drill. But this project essentially solves that problem at scale. By combining massive solar generation with equally massive battery storage, they’ve created what amounts to a baseload power plant that runs on sunshine.
Here’s the thing that really matters: this wasn’t built with subsidies. That’s huge. It means the economics actually work now. According to Wood Mackenzie, the Middle East and Africa already have the lowest levelized cost for utility-scale solar globally. This project takes that advantage and extends it into 24/7 reliability.
Why This Matters for AI
AI’s energy appetite is completely different from traditional industries. Data centers don’t take coffee breaks—they run 24/7 at maximum capacity. The IEA’s projections about AI’s electricity demand are staggering, and many utilities were facing a horrible choice: either risk brownouts or fire up more coal plants.
This project offers a third path. Dr. Almansouri calls it “additive power”—they’re not replacing existing supply but expanding capacity specifically for new demand like AI. Basically, they’ve built the kind of reliable, continuous power that data centers crave, but without the carbon emissions.
The Catch
Now, let’s talk about the challenges. That $6 billion price tag isn’t exactly pocket change. Replicating this in countries with fragmented electricity markets will be tough. The UAE has a centralized buyer in EWEC that can guarantee those 24-hour delivery contracts—many countries don’t have that advantage.
And while battery costs have fallen dramatically, there are questions about whether that trend will continue. We’re also talking about massive infrastructure that requires policy coordination and long-term planning. This isn’t something you can just drop into any grid overnight.
Bigger Picture
What Masdar has done here is essentially create a template. They designed this to be modular and replicable, recognizing that different countries will have different energy mixes. Their experience across 40 countries gives them a serious advantage in deploying these complex systems.
The race is on. With data center power demand expected to double by 2030, the question is no longer whether renewables can power the AI revolution—it’s whether we can build these solutions fast enough. This project proves the technology works. The real test will be scaling it globally before AI’s energy demands overwhelm our climate goals.
