First minister, Alex Salmond, said today (January 9) he will sign Scotland up to develop ‘tangible green energy’ products with Abu Dhabi based Masdar.

Mr Salmond will, on January 17, during a two day visit sign the agreement and take part in the World Future Energy Summit.

Precise details of the agreement have not been revealed but the Scottish side will see its Energy Technology Partnership, an alliance of 12 universities with around 250 academics and 600 researchers, benefit from the knowledge of Masdar.

While Scotland, with its weather conditions almost the complete opposite of Abu Dhabi, could serve as the perfect test bed for new renewable technologies developed by the company.

Mr Salmond said: “It is clear the work Masdar is taking forward on leading us to a low carbon society is in perfect synchronisation with the work we are doing here in Scotland.

“This is the first agreement of its kind between Masdar and an individual nation and will work towards developing further university research into renewable energy.

Masdar chief executive, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, said: “Masdar is pleased to partner with Scotland on a number of upcoming renewable energy initiatives.

“We discussed a number of areas of collaboration and I look forward to working closely with him over the coming months to move these ideas forward.”

Luke Walsh

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