The mutual agreement outlines the delivery of a ‘living laboratory’ Innovation Center at Masdar City that will incorporate both a research and development (R&D) facility and a Technical Centre of Excellence.
The R&D facility will focus on long-term sustainable technology research in green buildings (energy efficiency initiatives), smart grids (city-wide management system), water (district cooling, treatment plants) and ICT (data centers, Smart Buildings).
The center of excellence will be a laboratory addressing current design practices utilised in Masdar City with the view to ensuring optimum efficiency and integration.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive officer of Masdar, said: “At the heart of the Masdar City project is a commitment to partnering with leading industry players, such as Schneider Electric, to bring the latest technologies and newest ideas to help the city achieve its ambitious sustainability goals.
“As both a cleantech cluster and sustainable community, Masdar City will be a global center of research, development and real-world testing of cutting-edge renewable energy and demand reduction technologies. Schneider Electric’s presence in the city will catalyze the development of the clean technology cluster in Abu Dhabi.”
The strategic agreement will draw on the full spectrum of Schneider Electric’s energy management capabilities. Parts of the work will include the development of turnkey solutions for solar farms at Masdar City, and the establishment of a Schneider Electric Innovation and Application Competency Centre in collaboration with the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which is located at Masdar City.
Masdar City will also benefit from Schneider Electric’s Ecostruxure architecture which unites its expertise in power, datacenters, process and machines, building control, and physical security to optimize energy efficiencies across multiple domains.
Jean Pascal Tricoire, president and CEO of Schneider Electric, said: “We are pleased to sign this strategic partnership agreement with Masdar. We are proud to play our part in such a revolutionary and important initiative that will draw the world’s focus to Abu Dhabi. The contribution of Schneider Electric will become a benchmark of our capability to tackle the environmental challenge across the globe.”
