Energy
Masdar Closes 315MW Neftchala Deal, Eyes Garadagh Expansion
September 16, 2026
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Abu Dhabi's Masdar and SOCAR Green have reached financial close on the 315MW Neftchala solar project, with debt from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the EBRD and the Asian Development Bank, Trend reported on 15 September. The confirmation document was signed by the Ministry of Energy, SOCAR and Masdar.
The same day Masdar signed a collaboration agreement with Azerbaijan Green Energy Company (AGEC) to explore expanding its existing 230MW Garadagh plant by at least 350MW with up to 200MWh of battery storage, and to study a separate 100MW round-the-clock renewable project, according to Trend and a further Trend report. The agreements were part of a package signed during the visit of UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Baku.
Neftchala: from agreement to bankable
Neftchala has been a long time coming. The investment agreement dates to October 2023, followed by power purchase, transmission connection and land agreements, and Masdar broke ground at Baku Energy Week in June 2024. Financial close is the point at which lenders commit and construction can be funded on a project basis; it is the milestone that separates announced megawatts from grid-bound ones.
The plant is expected to generate more than 686 million kWh a year, enough for roughly 140,000 homes, and avoid about 280,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, Masdar said. With Neftchala, the 445MW Bilasuvar solar project and the 240MW Absheron-Garadagh onshore wind project, Masdar's Azerbaijani portfolio with SOCAR Green exceeds 1.2GW.
Garadagh: adding storage to the first mover
Garadagh, inaugurated in 2023, was Azerbaijan's first foreign-invested independent utility-scale solar plant and produces around 500 million kWh a year. The proposed expansion is notable less for its size than for the battery. A 200MWh storage system attached to the site would be a first for Masdar in Azerbaijan, and it points at the problem every solar-heavy system runs into: evening demand.
The 100MW round-the-clock concept goes further. Masdar says it would draw on its Abu Dhabi RTC project, which pairs 5.2GW of solar with a 19GWh battery to deliver 1GW of baseload power and reached financial close in July 2026. A 100MW Azerbaijani version would be a fraction of that scale, but the design principle, firm renewable power sold as if it were thermal, is what the grid operator would need before renewables can displace gas-fired generation rather than merely supplement it.
The financing signal
Three multilateral lenders on one 315MW project is a strong endorsement of the offtake structure, which for Garadagh runs through state power company Azerenerji. It also reflects the EBRD's growing Azerbaijani book, which CBJ reported approaching a record 892 million euros with green infrastructure leading. The pattern so far is that Gulf developers bring equity and multilaterals bring debt; domestic bank participation remains limited.
Caveats
The Garadagh expansion and the RTC project are exploratory agreements, not commitments; neither has a tariff, a lender or a timeline. Masdar's global pipeline of more than 65GW and its target of 100GW by 2030 say more about the company's appetite than about what will be built in Azerbaijan. Grid capacity is the binding constraint, since new plants compete for limited transmission capacity, and it is not yet clear how a battery would be remunerated under Azerbaijan's current tariff framework. Neftchala is real; the rest is a pipeline.
