Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network, has awarded Emerge, a joint venture between Masdar and EDF Group, the contract to build and operate a 600-kilowatt peak (kWp) ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system and a 2.56 Megawatt hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) to decarbonise its Ghuweifat freight terminal at the border with Saudi Arabia.

The contract was signed at Global Rail 2024 in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

Upon completion, the project is expected to generate up to 85 percent of the terminal's electricity consumption, Etihad Rail said in a press statement.

The statement didn’t disclose the project value, timelines and contract duration but said it will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 8,500 tonnes over the contract duration, and drives forward the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategy, which among other things, aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the UAE road transport sector by 21 percent annually by 2050.

Formed in 2021, Emerge offers turnkey solutions for distributed solar, energy storage, and hybrid solutions for commercial and industrial applications.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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