Abu Dhabi clean energy developer Masdar has signed a supply agreement with Chinese manufacturer Sungrow for 7.5 GWh of battery energy storage systems and 2.6 GW of PV inverter solutions to support what is billed as the world's first gigawatt-scale round-the-clock (RTC) renewable energy project. The deal, announced on May 21, 2026, adds Sungrow to a growing roster of suppliers for a project designed to demonstrate utility-scale dispatchability from solar and storage alone.
Background
The RTC project was unveiled in January 2025 at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week by Masdar chairman and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber. Masdar and the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) are co-developing the project, with Larsen & Toubro named as a preferred EPC contractor for the northern site during the initial procurement round that same month. The project broke ground in October 2025.
Earlier in January 2025, Masdar had named Jinko Solar and JA Solar as preferred PV module suppliers, and CATL as energy storage system provider-making Sungrow's agreement an expansion of the supplier base for a project whose total BESS requirement stands at 19 GWh.
EWEC and Masdar also signed an agreement earlier this month to accelerate the development of 30 GW of solar PV and 8 GW of battery storage across the UAE, underscoring state-backed ambition for storage-enabled renewables in the emirate.
Project Details
The RTC project will integrate 5.2 GWdc of solar PV capacity with a 19 GWh battery energy storage system, designed to deliver 1 GW of continuous clean power around the clock. The facility is located in Abu Dhabi; the exact site has not been publicly disclosed. The project comprises two sites-north and south-each with 2.6 GW and 9.5 GWh of capacity respectively.
Under the agreement, Sungrow will supply its PowerTitan 3.0 platform, deploying more than 1,000 units incorporating 684 Ah stacked battery cells, for a total of 3.44 million cells. Each system is designed around an eight-hour charging and 16-hour discharging cycle intended to maintain stable output throughout the day and into overnight demand periods.
The PowerTitan 3.0 uses a fully liquid-cooled silicon carbide power conversion system (SiC PCS) achieving a maximum efficiency of 99.3% and a system round-trip efficiency of 90%. Critically for the UAE climate, the system is rated to operate at temperatures up to 55°C without power derating-a key requirement for desert-sited assets where ambient conditions regularly exceed limits that would throttle conventional BESS equipment.
Masdar has stated the project is intended to produce gigascale baseload renewable energy at a globally competitive tariff for the first time and serve as a replicable blueprint for other markets.
Outlook
The project is scheduled to commence operations in 2027. If delivered on time, it would mark the first instance of a gigawatt-class renewable asset providing firm, continuous output without fossil fuel backup-a threshold the broader industry has targeted as the defining test for storage-enabled renewable baseload. Masdar has not disclosed the project's capital cost or power purchase agreement tariff, leaving those benchmarks to be established once the plant enters commercial operation.
