US government pledges support for Masdar City plan

The ambitious Masdar City project has secured arguably its highest-profile backer to date, after the US government signed a deal with the Abu Dhabi state-owned company behind plans to build one of the world's premier clean tech hubs.

Masdar was set up by the Abu Dhabi government in 2006 to advance the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy and clean technologies. The company has since secured several high-profile corporate partners and investors, keen to work on plans to build an entire zero-carbon city in the Abu Dhabi desert.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has now joined that loose coalition, signing an agreement that will see the department work with Masdar to share best practices and research and development resources, particularly in the fields of carbon capture, water and biofuel technologies.

The DoE is also expected to support the development of Masdar City which, when complete, will be home to the International Renewable Energy Agency, a collaboration between 48 African, 37 European, 34 Asian, 15 American and nine Pacific states established in January last year to promote adoption of all forms of renewable energy.

The city will house the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which has close ties to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and talks are also under way to attract a large number of clean tech firms to locate research facilities in the city.

Covering 2.3 square miles, Masdar City is expected to take eight years to build at a cost of $22bn (£14.5bn). It will be primarily powered by solar energy and has been designed by British firm Foster + Partners to be both carbon and waste neutral. Cars will be banned from its streets in favour of greener mass transit options, while narrow shaded streets will allow for natural cooling.

Developers are keen to ensure the city operates as a real, working urban environment and current plans account for 50,000 residents and 1,500 businesses, with an additional 60,000 workers expected to commute into Masdar City every day.

In addition to solar installations on most rooftops, 20MW of wind turbines will be constructed outside the city’s perimeter.

The DoE signalled that it would pay particular attention to the innovative water technologies that will be deployed as part of the project. The city is expected to depend on solar-powered desalination facilities to meet its population's freshwater needs, while up to 80 per cent of the water used will also be recycled as many times as possible, with grey water being used to irrigate nearby agricultural land.

In related news, the DoE announced yesterday it will invest more than $200m over five years to expand and accelerate the development, commercialisation and use of solar and water power technologies throughout the US.

Energy secretary Steven Chu said the funding would expand US clean energy manufacturing, while increasing national security and boosting job opportunities in the expanding renewable energy sector.

The fund includes a $125m pot for photovoltaic manufacturing projects, $40m for products or processes that improve the photovoltaic manufacturing supply chain and $39m for marine and hydrokinetic technologies.

Concept papers from organisations interested in applying for funding are expected to be lodged over the next two months.