Nasdaq-listed Beam Global has signed a memorandum of understanding with Masdar City Free Zone to bring off-grid EV charging and energy storage technology into the Masdar City ecosystem in Abu Dhabi.
Beam Global (Nasdaq: BEEM) and its regional arm, Beam Middle East, have signed a memorandum of understanding with Masdar City Free Zone to explore bringing off-grid EV charging, energy storage and smart-city technology into the Masdar City ecosystem. The agreement follows Beam Middle East’s recent licensing through the Free Zone, and marks an early-stage market entry rather than a signed commercial contract.
Under the MoU, Beam Middle East will look at introducing off-grid EV charging infrastructure, solar-integrated e-bike systems and other clean-mobility technology designed to cut emissions and widen access to sustainable transport within Masdar City. The products are built to deploy without a grid connection, which the company says suits sites where extending grid infrastructure is slow or costly.
The exploratory deal sits within Masdar City Free Zone’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Industries cluster, set up to position Abu Dhabi as a hub for advanced transport technology. The cluster gives licensed companies a regulatory framework and supporting infrastructure to trial and commercialise smart mobility systems, and the Free Zone is now home to more than 2,000 organisations, including the International Renewable Energy Agency and the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.
“Partnering with Masdar City, a global leader in sustainable urban development, is a major milestone for Beam Global as we expand our footprint in the Middle East,” said Desmond Wheatley, chief executive of Beam Global. He said the company’s mobility, storage and smart-city products were “engineered to deploy rapidly without grid constraints,” which he described as a fit for Masdar City’s aim of a zero-carbon urban environment.
Dr Mohamed Al Breiki, executive director of Masdar City, said bringing Beam Global into the Free Zone gave the city “a valuable opportunity to explore next-generation mobility and off-grid energy technologies,” adding that the partnership aligned with national goals for resilient infrastructure. Mahmoud Al Hosani, the Free Zone’s executive director of finance and support services, said attracting a Nasdaq-listed clean-tech company reflected the strength of Masdar City’s commercial ecosystem.
Beam Global, headquartered in San Diego, already has operations across the United States, Europe and the Middle East, including a facility in Abu Dhabi, and designs, patents and manufactures its own hardware rather than buying in third-party charging units. That gives it a self-contained product line built specifically for off-grid EV charging and storage, which the company positions as an alternative to sites that would otherwise need a new grid connection before charging infrastructure could go in.
For now, the agreement is exploratory: it commits the two sides to evaluate opportunities rather than to a fixed rollout, order book or timeline, and its financial scale has not been disclosed. It nonetheless adds Beam to a growing list of overseas clean-mobility suppliers testing the UAE market through the Masdar City Free Zone, alongside Savvy Charging’s earlier push into off-grid EV charging distribution across the Middle East and North Africa.
Grid-independent charging and storage are a practical fit for the UAE’s EV build-out, where developers often need power at sites ahead of grid upgrades. If the MoU converts into deployed hardware, off-grid EV charging units from Beam would give Masdar City another option for expanding charging access without waiting on new grid connections, aligning with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategy for transport and buildings. Investors and site developers watching the UAE’s clean-mobility sector will be looking for a follow-up announcement confirming an actual deployment before treating the MoU as more than a statement of intent.
