History in the Making! China's Firms Power Up a 19GWh Green Energy Titan – But Can the World Keep Up?

On the morning of October 23rd, the groundbreaking ceremony for the world's largest solar-plus-storage project, also the world's first renewable energy project to achieve "round-the-clock power supply," took place in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The UAE RTC solar-plus-storage project is a joint development by Masdar and EWEC, the UAE's electricity and water company. The two companies first announced the project in January 2025. Located in the vast Abu Dhabi desert, the project covers an area of ​​90 square kilometers and will include a 5.2GW photovoltaic power plant and a 19GWh battery energy storage system. It is currently the largest and most technologically advanced project of its kind in the world. The project, with a total investment exceeding AED 22 billion (approximately RMB 42.66 billion), will create over 10,000 jobs and is expected to be operational in 2027. It will provide 24/7 renewable energy to a baseload of 1GW at a globally competitive price, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 5.7 million tons annually. The project is reportedly divided into two sections, north and south, to be implemented by Larsen & Toubro of India and PowerChina, respectively. PowerChina will construct the northern section, which includes 2.1GW of photovoltaic power and 7.6GWh of energy storage.

The project will leverage advanced "virtual power plant" models, networking and black start technologies, artificial intelligence prediction systems, and a smart power distribution network to achieve stable clean energy output, fundamentally addressing the challenges of unstable renewable energy supply. This will inject sustained momentum into the UAE's economic diversification and the development of its artificial intelligence industry, and strongly support the achievement of the UAE's "Energy Strategy 2050." As a flagship project integrating digital twins, virtual power plants, and advanced intelligent control systems, it not only sets a new benchmark for global renewable energy development but also lays a solid foundation for the UAE to build a stable, low-carbon, and sustainable energy future.

Masdar, the clean energy company from Abu Dhabi, UAE, currently has energy storage projects in numerous countries around the world. Masdar has stated its goal to reach a total installed clean energy capacity of 100GW by 2030.