Abu Dhabi’s multi faceted renewable energy initiative, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), has partnered with one of the world’s leading applied research organisations, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, to develop a Sustainable Cities Research Centre in Masdar City.

Masdar City, currently under construction, will be the world’s first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city completely powered by renewable energy. The city is the most ambitious sustainable development in the world today and will be a test bed for clean technologies.

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has over 80 research centres across Europe, Asia and the United States and is internationally renowned for its ability to develop new technologies and bring them to market. The Sustainable Cities Research Centre would be the organisation’s first Middle Eastern research hub.

“Our mission is to accelerate innovation in clean and renewable technologies and make these available and affordable on a global scale,” said Masdar CEO Dr. Sultan Al Jaber. “We believe global collaboration is essential to achieving this mission and our partnerships with MIT, DLR, Imperial College and the Tokyo Institute of Technology are proof of this.”

“The collaboration with Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will also ensure Masdar plays a key role in the development of Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy sector; driving continual innovation and commercialisation of clean and sustainable energy technologies,” he added.

The research centre will focus on critical technologies for sustainable cities of the future including solar energy, energy efficient buildings, water and desalination technologies, cooling technologies, intelligent electricity supply concepts, electro-mobility and carbon footprint measurement and evaluation. The agreement also includes close collaboration with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and regional institutions to undertake joint research programs and achieve the transfer of knowledge between the Gulf and Europe.