Masdar plunges $2 billion into solar PV market

Masdar today announced it will commit $2 billion to start a global production line of thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, with the aim of reaching 1GW a year by 2014.

Masdar is a company set up by the Abu Dhabi government in January, to invest the oil-rich country's capital in “future energy” projects, such as renewables.

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In phase one of the $2 billion investment, $600 million will be spent on two factories; the first, in Erfurt, Germany, will turn out 70MW of solar PV capacity a year. Ground-breaking is scheduled for early July, with operations slated to begin in the third quarter of 2009. Masdar expects that this site will be a “reference plant”, to be scaled up at a second site in Abu Dhabi. Expected to come online in the second quarter of 2010, this will have the capacity to manufacture 140MW of PV systems a year.

The rest of the capital will be invested in adding new production lines to these facilities and establishing more factories in other parts of the world. Steve Geiger, Abu Dhabi-based director for special projects, told Environmental Finance that the initiative is looking at the south-western US and Asia for possible expansion.

The PV systems built at the factories will “use the latest generation of equipment capable of high-volume processing of ultra-large glass substrates, which, at 5.7 square metres, are eight times larger and five times more powerful than that of the current market leader”, Masdar said.

Although the company has invested venture capital in solar firms, including thin-film PV, this is its first direct foray into the business. Geiger said it was a big step forward for the initiative, as it would be “100% owning and building and operating” the business. He added that Masdar hopes to quickly scale up and drive down the cost of the technology: “[There are] many companies that are ahead of us. We need to do something special to be competitive and that something special is being able to apply Abu Dhabi's capital.”

Masdar chief executive Sultan Al Jaber said: “Thin-film PV is a key part of our build-deploy-develop strategy to actively build a strong position in alternative energy. Abu Dhabi is a global energy leader, so it makes sense to engage these new technologies and become a leader in alternatives.”

Winfried Hoffman, president of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, added: “The entry of such powerful energy leaders into solar is very exciting and could change the dynamics of the entire industry.”