Brown signs UAE clean energy deal

By Robin Wigglesworth in Abu Dhabi
Published: November 3 2008 23:30

Gordon Brown, the UK’s prime minister, on Monday signed a clean energy co­-operation agreement with a leading renewable energy company in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Brown is on the last leg of a tour of the region to raise money from oil-rich Gulf states for the International Monetary Fund, an effort which, despite visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week, has not yet produced any firm commitments.

The memorandum of understanding with Masdar to develop clean technologies came a day after neighbouring Qatar said it had agreed to invest £150m ($238m, €187m) in a UK low-carbon energy technology fund alongside Britain’s ­Carbon Trust and private investors.
Gulf states are planning for the day oil and gas runs out and several have targeted renewable energy as a strategic sector into which to diversify.
Masdar – a government-owned company based in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE – last month said it was taking a 20 per cent stake in the 1,000 megawatt London Array offshore wind farm for an undisclosed sum.
The company is also building a $22bn (€17bn, £14bn) city in the desert outside Abu Dhabi that it says will be carbon neutral when it is completed.
Mr Brown offered to support Gulf countries that want an increased say in the IMF in return for any contributions.
The Group of 20 countries – which includes Saudi Arabia, the regional heavyweight – will meet this month to try to strengthen the IMF ahead of what is expected to be a series of bail-outs by the fund.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008