UAE's Masdar-led group inaugurates $332mln wind farm in Western Balkans

The inauguration of the 300 million euro (Dh1.22 billion) project was attended by Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment; Aleksandar Vucic, President of the Republic of Serbia; Aleksandar Antic, Serbia's Minister of Mining and Energy; Mubarak Saeed Al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to Serbia; Khaled Al Qubaisi, CEO of aerospace, renewables and ICT at Mubadala; and other high-level government officials from both countries.

Built over a 37 sqkm site 50km from the capital Belgrade, Cibuk 1 has a capacity of 158MW and will provide sustainable, emissions-free power to 113,000 homes and displace over 370,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year - the same amount of carbon sequestered by over six million trees.

Speaking at the inauguration, Dr Al Zeyoudi said: "Through its compelling business case, renewable energy has established itself as the new power generation technology of choice. With an investment of $309 billion, 2018 saw the addition of 171GW to the global renewable energy generation capacity. The rise in the uptake of renewables is driven by its increasing cost efficiency as well as growing calls for sustainability around the world. We are proud to share that the UAE's renewable energy projects that are operational and underway have a combined capacity of 11.4GW, including 8.4GW within the country and 3GW abroad."

Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Chairman of Masdar, said: "Today's inauguration of Cibuk 1 further strengthens the UAE's partnership and cooperation with Serbia and its government. Since Masdar's establishment more than a decade ago, its mission has been to advance the clean energy sector and to provide sustainable, innovative solutions to the world's energy needs. Today, that vision is being realized through projects such as Cibuk 1."