Masdar Closes $6.1 Billion Financing for World's First Gigascale 24/7 Solar-Plus-Storage Project in Abu Dhabi

Overview

Masdar, the Abu Dhabi state-backed renewable energy developer, has reached financial close on what it describes as the world’s first gigascale “round-the-clock” clean power plant, a US$6.1 billion project that pairs 5.2 gigawatts of solar with a 19 gigawatt-hour battery system to deliver a steady 1 gigawatt of electricity day and night, according to CleanTechnica. The milestone, which Masdar announced on 13 July 2026, moves the project from planning into financed construction and, in the company’s telling, sets a new benchmark for baseload clean energy, according to Masdar.

What We Know

The financing. Of the US$6.1 billion total, US$5.1 billion is debt supplied by a consortium of 13 local and international banks, with Masdar contributing US$1 billion in equity, CleanTechnica reported. Lenders named in the deal include First Abu Dhabi Bank, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas and Bank of China. Mazin Khan, chief financial officer at Masdar, said the financing “demonstrates the confidence of the international banking community not only in a landmark project but also in Masdar’s financial strength, disciplined execution and long-term growth strategy,” according to Masdar.

The technology. The plant combines 5.2 GW of solar photovoltaic generation with a 19 GWh battery energy storage system, a configuration Masdar calls “the largest and most technologically advanced system of its kind in the world” and that enables round-the-clock delivery of 1 GW of clean power, Energy-Storage.News reported. The battery capacity is being split between two Chinese suppliers, with BYD providing 11.275 GWh and Sungrow supplying 7.5 GWh of its PowerTitan 3.0 system along with 2.6 GW of photovoltaic inverters, Energy-Storage.News reported. Jinko Solar and JA Solar were selected as module suppliers; CATL had originally been named as the storage provider before the contract shifted to BYD and Sungrow, per Energy-Storage.News.

Timeline and impact. Masdar and its partner, the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), broke ground on the project in October 2025, and it is expected to enter operation in 2027, CleanTechnica reported. Masdar has said the project will create more than 10,000 jobs and avoid roughly 5.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year once operational, according to Masdar.

Why It Matters

The intermittency of solar and wind — power that arrives only when the sun shines or the wind blows — has long been the central objection to a grid built on renewables. Pairing a very large solar array with an equally large battery is a direct attempt to answer that objection, converting variable daytime generation into a firm output that can run continuously. Reaching financial close on a project of this scale suggests lenders increasingly regard round-the-clock renewable power as bankable infrastructure rather than a demonstration, as CleanTechnica noted.

The economics have been moving in that direction. In May, the International Renewable Energy Agency reported that firm 24/7 solar-and-storage systems had fallen to as little as $54 per megawatt-hour in the best locations, undercutting new coal and gas, as previously reported. Masdar’s plant is among the first gigascale tests of whether that cost curve holds when a single project must deliver firm power at scale.

What We Don’t Know

The buyer of the electricity has not been confirmed. Masdar executives have linked the plant to the United Arab Emirates’ ambition to become “a global hub for artificial intelligence research,” and the project is widely expected to help power energy-hungry data centres, but “no formal offtake or power supply agreement has been announced,” Energy-Storage.News reported. The specific site within Abu Dhabi has not been disclosed. And while the design promises firm 1 GW output, the long-term performance of a solar-plus-storage system operating at this scale around the clock has yet to be proven over years of commercial service.