The company is evaluating the market and engaging with potential partners to determine the most suitable approach for entering the Asian country, Abdulaziz Alobaidli, Masdar's chief operating officer, told The National.
“China is a very competitive market with local players, so we are not yet there. However, we are assessing the market [and] we are engaging with potential partners … to decide what would be our ideal market entry strategy,” he said on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
“I think any serious investor who is ignoring China is committing a very strategic mistake.”
Masdar chief operating officer Abdulaziz Alobaidli. Victor Besa / The National
Masdar, jointly owned by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, better known as Taqa, Adnoc and Mubadala, is active in 40 countries. It aims to expand its capacity to at least 100 gigawatts of renewable energy by the end of the decade from about 20 gigawatts currently.
Global renewable energy capacity in the power sector grew by 473 gigawatts from 2022 to 3,870 gigawatts last year, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
China, the world’s second-largest economy, was the main driver with 298 gigawatts installed in 2023, the Irena report said.
The Masdar executive's remarks come against the backdrop of escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently urged China not to flood global markets with cheap clean energy exports and said she would not rule out any measures, including potential tariffs.
“[Geopolitical tensions] continue to evolve in one shape or another. We have seen the Russia-Ukraine [conflict] and we are now seeing the Iranian and Israeli tensions,” Mr Alobaidli said.
“As a company we wish for these to de-escalate, certainly,” he added.
Masdar has a “plan B and C and even Z” to deal with possible supply chain challenges emerging from conflicts and political instability, Mr Alobaidli said.
“As an investor, we assess the impact [on] the interest rate, logistics and the supply chain,” the Masdar executive said.
“We work with the West, the East and the Middle East … we diversify our supply chain to ensure that if those challenges start to materialise, we have the right mitigations,” he added.
