Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC (Masdar) has completed issuing its first green bonds for $750m 10-year senior unsecured Notes on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The market opening was attended by HE Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate and Chairman of Masdar, HE Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Ambassador HE Mansoor Abulhoul, UAE Ambassador to the UK, and Masdar Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.
Masdar’s bond offering on the LSE on July 19 was more than five times oversubscribed with strong appetite from regional and international investors.
The Abu Dhabi-based company has developed over 20GW of renewables capacity across more than 40 countries, investing more than $30bn, and is targeting a 100GW portfolio by 2030. The UAE will be hosting the upcoming UN climate change conference, COP28, with Dr Al Jaber as President-Designate.
He said, “This is a defining moment for Masdar and climate finance and we are delighted to stand on the world stage at this historic market opening ceremony. The demand for green bonds is extremely high and will enable investment in renewable energy projects, many of which will be in developing economies and climate-vulnerable countries.
“But there is more to do if we are to unlock finance for the energy transition to support the tripling of global renewable energy capacity by 2030. The successful issuance of Masdar green bonds will support this aim, by helping to provide funding towards renewable energy projects where they are needed most.”
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Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar’s CEO, said, “It follows the publication of our innovative Green Bonds Framework, published in March 2023, which received the highest Sustainability Quality Score of ‘SQS1’ from Moody’s Investors Service, and is part of a broader program to fund our ambitious growth plans.”
The bond is the first part of a programme to raise up to $3bn to meet Masdar’s equity funding commitments on new renewable energy projects at home and overseas, as it seeks to grow its global portfolio to 100GW of capacity by 2030. Masdar also plans a secondary listing of its green bond offering later this year on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), the second largest market in the Gulf region.
Proceeds from all bond offerings under the programme will be deployed towards the greenest projects in the renewables sector, namely solar, wind, renewable power transmission and distribution infrastructure, and battery storage assets, and strict ESG criteria will apply to restrict the eligibility of projects.
The company is targeting green hydrogen production of 1Mtpa by 2030.