Masdar,xxx parody movies the United Arab Emirates’ clean energy powerhouse, has selected CATL for a contract to supply its battery energy storage systems (BESS) as part of its plan to build the world’s first large-scale, round-the-clock gigascale project, the companies announced Jan. 17. The $6 billion project will include a 5.2-gigawatt (GW) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and a 19-gigawatt-hour (GWh) energy storage system, capable of delivering up to 1 GW of baseload power 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to the announcement. Construction is set to begin “as soon as possible,” with the facility expected to be operational by 2027 and span 90 square kilometers of land in the Abu Dhabi desert, said Abdulaziz Alobaidli, chief executive of Masdar, as reported by Arabian Gulf Business Insight. [CATL release, Arabian Gulf Business Insight]