Dubai: British Prime Minister David Cameron has praised Abu Dhabi's Masdar and the UAE Government for its role in creating the European Future Energy Forum (EFEF).
The annual event, currently taking place in London, draws together business leaders, industry experts, academics and policy makers to discuss key issues on the research and development of future energy technologies.
Cameron said: "Thank you to Masdar and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for creating EFEF. This forum is about how we turn the threat of climate change into the opportunity of low carbon and high growth for all.
"I'm keen too, that we take every opportunity to learn from the work that other countries are doing, not least Masdar in Abu Dhabi with its revolutionary Masdar City. The forum is a practical expression of the partnership needed to make a low carbon revolution one of the defining legacies of our generation."
Prominent figures
Other prominent figures addressing the forum included: Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and Chris Huhne, the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said: "The European Future Energy Forum, organised by Masdar, was successful in demonstrating Abu Dhabi's emergence as a driver for cooperation and dialogue around clean energy solutions and climate change mitigation."
It was also announced at the Forum on Tuesday evening that Siemens will move its Middle East headquarters into the carbon-neutral city upon completion of the first phase.
As part of the agreement, Siemens says it will provide integrated building automation technologies and jointly develop smart grid applications for the initial phase of Masdar.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said: "Partnering with technology leaders such as Siemens to create a clean-tech and research and development (R&D) hub at Masdar City is what Masdar is about. As we build Masdar City, we are constantly looking to keep pace with technology innovations.
"We are pushing the frontiers of science, technology and engineering to not only redefine sustainable urban development but also to create a thriving R&D [research and development] centre that will help turn Abu Dhabi into a technology developer and exporter. Both our companies share and support this vision for Masdar City."
The partnership also covers collaboration in the field of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which will involve research and development with the Masdar Institute.
Siemens will establish an anchor presence in Masdar City, housing their Middle East Headquarters, a Centre of Excellence in Building Technologies and other initiatives including a Leadership Development Centre. The Centre of Excellence will begin R&D activities on the ground at Masdar City in 2010.
In addition, Siemens will collaborate with Masdar and the Masdar Institute to optimise the technical and economic aspects of environmentally friendly post-combustion CCS.
CCS technologies capture carbon dioxide from sources such as fossil fuel power plants and preventing the release of emissions into the atmosphere by using the carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery or permanently storing the carbon dioxide in geological structures such as oil reservoirs or deep saline acquifers..
Energy-efficient and resource-conserving technologies are part of the Siemens Environmental Portfolio, with which the company posted revenue totalling more than 23 billion euros (Dh119.1 billion) in fiscal 2009.
