Abu Dhabi just secured planning approval for a project its partners position as one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, 100 km off the English coast.
Masdar and Germany’s RWE today received the development consent order for the 3 GW Dogger Bank South project, signed by Lord Whitehead on behalf of UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. The project is split across DBS East and DBS West, each at 1.5 GW, with each site spanning 500 square kilometres roughly 100 km off the north-east coast of England. Masdar holds a 49 percent stake and RWE 51 percent, part of an £11 billion joint investment in UK renewables. The partners agreed to work together on Dogger Bank South at COP28 in December 2023, when the first 800 MW was planned to come online in 2029, with full commissioning by end of 2031. The two projects already secured UK Contracts for Difference in January 2026.
Why it matters
The consent comes a month after Masdar and ScottishPower installed the UK’s largest wind turbine. We read Abu Dhabi as becoming an anchor equity partner in the UK’s offshore wind buildout.
What it means for MENA
My read is that the same capital stack (Gulf sovereign equity alongside a European partner, with project finance) becomes the reference model for the region’s next large wind tenders.
