Masdar reaches financial close on ‘round-the-clock’ hybrid solar project with 19GWh BESS in UAE

July 20, 2026

The groundbreaking of the project late last year (pictured) was attended by dignitaries including Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Image: Masdar

UAE state-owned IPP Masdar has reached financial close on what it has claimed is the world’s “first gigascale 24/7 renewable energy project”, supplied by BYD and Sungrow.

The 5.2GW, 19GWh ’round the clock’ (RTC) solar-plus-storage system represents a total capital investment of US$6.1 billion. The recent US$5.1 billion funding of the project came from a consortium of 13 local and international banks, along with US$1 billion of equity funding from Masdar.

The remarkable scale of the project—which Masdar called “the largest and most technologically advanced system of its kind in the world”—enables it to effectively produce 24-hour renewable energy using the combination of solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS). It will deliver 1GW of baseload solar power, Masdar claimed.