Spanish oil & gas group Cepsa has established a 50-50 joint venture (JV) with Abu Dhabi-based Masdar to develop wind and solar projects in Spain and Portugal.
The new JV, Cepsa Masdar Renovables, will have an initial target of 500-600MW of projects.
"As a global energy company, we are building a diversified business portfolio," said Philippe Boisseau, chief executive of Cepsa, Europe's largest privately-owned integrated oil & gas company. "Renewable energy is one of the fundamental pillars of the energy transition and one of the fields in which we want to expand our presence. The alliance with Masdar represents an important lever for our growth in this sector, focused on Spain and Portugal.”
Cepsa, which works in every stage of the oil & gas value chain, including exploration, production and refining, currently operates a single 28.8MW wind farm in Cadiz, Spain.
The group is jointly owned by the Abu Dhabi government vehicle Mubadala Investment Company, and global investment firm The Carlyle Group. Mubadala is also the 100% owner of Masdar, one of the world's leading renewables developers.
"The Iberian Peninsula is an attractive location for renewable-energy investors and we look forward to expanding our renewable-energy portfolio further into the region, while strengthening our partnership with Cepsa,” said Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.
Masdar also established two other JVs during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week last week.
One is with Egypt’s leading renewables developer Infinity Energy, to develop utility-scale and distributed solar and wind projects in Egypt and elsewhere in Africa.
The other, with French power giant EDF, is dedicated to energy efficiency and distributed solar projects. In particular, this partnership will help Abu Dhabi meet its energy-efficiency target of reducing overall electricity consumption in the emirate by 22% by 2030.
As Masdar chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi told Recharge last week at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week: “Everything we do is with partners, we don’t like to do anything on our own.”
