Masdar City offers a complete innovation ecosystem housing pioneering R&D and pilot facilities that nurture and implement ground-breaking solar energy, energy storage, green building and urban sustainability projects.


Supporting Research
& Development of
Sustainable Technologies

OVERVIEW
Advance smart design and technology
Achievements
The Eco-Bus was unveiled at Abu Dhabi
Sustainability Week 2018
Research & Development Projects
Research & development initiatives and innovative pilot projects to advance smart design and technology.
Masdar Solar Hub
The Masdar Solar Hub, managed by Khalifa University of Science and Technology, allows for concentrating solar power (CSP) and thermal energy storage (TES) technologies to be developed on a wider scale by providing access to high-performance CSP research and demonstration infrastructure.
The facility is being used to test reflector technologies, absorbed tubes, heat transfer fluids, mirrors and a variety of components used in the CSP industry.

Masdar City Solar Photovoltaic Plant
The 10MW Masdar City Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Plant was the first grid connected renewable energy project in the UAE. The facility produces about 17,500 megawatt-hours of clean electricity annually and offsets 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. The plant consists of 87,780 multicrystalline and thin-film modules supplied by Suntech and First Solar.

Seawater Agriculture and Energy System
The integrated Seawater Agriculture and Energy System (SEAS), an initiative of the Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC) and a pilot project established in 2011. It aims to support the emergence of a commercially viable aviation biofuel industry while exploring more sustainable farming methods suitable for the UAE. The project at Masdar City recycles wastewater from an aquafarm to irrigate oil-rich and saltwater-tolerant salicornia plants. The remaining wastewater is filtered through a natural mangrove before being discharged into the sea.

Electrical Energy Storage Solutions Hub
The variable nature of solar and wind energy may cause operational challenges for grid operators at certain times. Energy storage technologies can alleviate this issue, which is expected to become more important as the share of electricity from variable renewable energy sources in the global power mix is continuously increasing. The Electric Energy Storage Solution Hub (EESSH) at Masdar City is dedicated to the study of advanced energy storage technologies with the aim of delivering more cost-effective solutions.
