UAE Masdar project directors

10 August 2010

Six people leading the renewable energy and property projects of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company: Sultan al-Jaber, Frank Wouters, Sam Nader, Paul Lyndon Bryant, Ahmed Ali al-Sayegh and Gerard Evenden

Sultan al-Jaber

Position Chief executive officer (CEO), Masdar

Biography Sultan al-Jaber has been the CEO of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), the emirate’s renewable energy and sustainability developer, since it was established in 2006. Ultimately, he decides which proposed schemes for the Masdar development go ahead. He is also the director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency UAE liaison office and a member of the UN’s energy and climate change advisory group. Al-Jaber has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s in business administration from the US’ University of Southern California. His doctorate in business and economics is from the UK’s Coventry University. Before joining Masdar, Al-Jaber held a series of jobs at state energy firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its subsidiaries. He was also executive marketing director for the Dubai department of tourism and commerce marketing in California.

Contact Tel: (+971) 2 653 3333

Frank Wouters

Position Associate director, Masdar Power

Biography Frank Wouters, associate director of Masdar’s power unit, is overseeing the development of the company’s power generation schemes, among the most advanced of the firm’s projects. His responsibilities include Masdar’s 20 per cent investment in the London Array offshore wind power project in the UK; the Shams 1 solar power project in Abu Dhabi; and, with UK energy major BP, the development of Hydrogen Power Abu Dhabi, a hydrogen power plant. Sources close to the last project, a $2bn scheme that will produce 400MW of electricity and be the biggest of its kind in the world, say construction contracts will be tendered before the end of 2010. Prior to joining Masdar, Wouters worked at several renewable energy firms, including the Netherlands’ Evelop International, Sol Holdings of Germany and Silicium de Provence in France. He holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from Delft University in the Netherlands.

Contact Tel: (+971) 2 653 2000

Sam Nader

Position Director, Masdar Carbon

Biography Sam Nader is director of Masdar’s carbon management unit, an adviser to the Abu Dhabi’s industrial producers and oil and gas firms on carbon emissions, finance and trading. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the American University of Beirut and master’s of business administration from the American Graduate School of International Management in the US. As carbon management head, Nader is developing several transport and storage programmes, as well as the emirate’s first carbon capture scheme. This project will capture and process up to 800,000 tonnes a year of carbon dioxide produced at Emirates Steel Industries’ steel rolling mill and involves setting up a major carbon dioxide pipeline network. The first phase pipeline will be 190 kilometres long, while the second will stretch for 230km, making it one of the biggest networks of its kind in the world.

Contact Tel: (+971) 2 698 8000

Paul Lyndon Bryant

Position Project director, BP, Hydrogen Power Abu Dhabi

Biography Paul Lyndon Bryant is project director at the joint-venture developer Hydrogen Power Abu Dhabi for BP, which holds a 40 per cent share in the firm. Masdar and BP want to convert 100 million cubic feet a day of natural gas provided by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) into hydrogen, which will fuel the 420MW power plant. The venture includes a water desalination plant with a 25 million gallon-a-day capacity. Bryant has worked for BP for almost 30 years and has been leading the Abu Dhabi project since December 2009. Previously, he was the director of the eastern hemisphere for BP subsidiary, Hydrogen Energy International, and commercial director for the joint venture of BP and UK/Australian Rio Tinto, which was developing the hydrogen project before Rio Tinto dropped out. Bryant holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from the UK’s Kingston University.

Contact Tel: (+971) 50 615 8928

Ahmed Ali al-Sayegh

Position Chairman, Masdar

Biography Ahmed Ali al-Sayegh is the chairman of Masdar and is key to any major financial decisions the company makes at a board level. He is a pivotal link between Masdar and its parent company, state-owned Mubadala Development Company, where he is a board member. Al-Sayegh provides the company with strategic insight into both the energy and real estate markets gained through his positions as chief executive officer of UAE-based Dolphin Energy and as chairman of Abu Dhabi real-estate firm Aldar Properties. He is also a member of the boards the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority and the Environment Authority Abu Dhabi. Al-Sayegh graduated with a degree in economics from the US’ Lewis & Clarke University in 1983 before going on to work at state energy firm Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, where he rose to the position of director of finance.

Contact Tel: (+971) 2 699 5500

Gerard Evenden

Position Lead architect, Masdar City; partner, Foster & Partners

Biography Gerard Evenden is a partner at the UK’s Foster & Partners and is the lead architect for the Masdar project. He is responsible for helping Masdar develop the masterplan for the carbon-neutral city, fitting in the central elements of sustainability to the real-estate development, as well as the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which is set to be the first major scheme the developer completes. Evenden is also involved in the development of Abu Dhabi’s World Trade Centre and Raha Beach developments, and is leading the design of the Sheikh Zayed National Museum. He joined Foster & Partners in 1991 after graduating from the UK’s Welsh School of Architecture. He has remained at the firm ever since, and has been involved in the design of projects ranging from London’s Canary Wharf railway station to the 36-storey Deutsche Bank Place in Sydney for the German bank.

Contact Tel: (+44) 20 7738 0455

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