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Masdar inked $887 mln deal to buy stake in Endesa's solar

plants

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Aims to grow its capacity to 100 GW of renewable energy by

2030

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Says expansion in Europe key to meeting that goal

By Pietro Lombardi

MADRID, July 29 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates'

renewable energy company Masdar is seeking more opportunities in

Europe's green energy sector and will consider both minority

investments and controlling stakes, its CFO said, following a

deal last week with Spain's Endesa.

Masdar on Thursday agreed to pay 817 million euros ($887

million) for a 49.99% stake in 48 solar plants controlled by

Endesa - a unit of Italy's Enel - in Spain, with an

overall capacity of 2 gigawatt.

The investments needed to meet Europe's ambitious green

targets, coupled with a "normalisation" of asset prices which

had risen too high during the era of low interest rates, create

big opportunities in the region, Mazin Khan told Reuters in an

interview.

Masdar has invested in renewable projects around the world

at different stages of development with an overall capacity of

roughly 20 GW and a value of more than $30 billion, and expects

Europe to be a key contributor to reaching its 100-GW capacity

target by 2030.

"Whether we do that with partners... or with a majority

stake, will depend on the opportunity and the jurisdiction," he

said, adding that buying a stake in a portfolio of assets like

Endesa's was just a first step to expand investments.

"When we look at M&A opportunities, we're not solely looking

at them to add gigawatts to our portfolio... We're also putting

a lot of emphasis on future pipelines and how we are effectively

going to use those acquisitions to further expand within the

region," he said.

Masdar and Endesa also signed a memorandum of understanding

to potentially develop an additional 3 GW of solar capacity, he

said.

With high interest rates and rising debt costs hitting

Europe's renewable industry, utilities like Iberdrola

and Enel have turned more cautious on new renewable projects and

are happy to sell minority stakes in wind farms and solar plants

to maximise returns and curb debt.

Last month, Masdar - which is controlled by UAE's power

and water firm TAQA, its National oil company ADNOC and

sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company - agreed to

buy a majority stake in Greek renewable energy company Terna.

While Spain and Europe are key in Masdar's strategy, the

company will consider suitable opportunities wherever they

arise, including the United States, which is already a major

market for the company, he said.

($1 = 0.9206 euros)

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, editing by Andrei Khalip and

Emelia Sithole-Matarise)