Green hydrogen hub backed by $5 billion of investment planned for the UAE

Green hydrogen hub backed by $5 billion of investment planned for the UAE

France's and Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy business Masdar have established a strategic alliance focused on the development of projects related to green hydrogen. In an announcement at the end of last week, the companies said the agreement would "explore the co-development of a UAE-based green hydrogen hub." While fine details of the plan were relatively sparse, the firms will look to develop projects with an electrolyzer capacity of 2 gigawatts. Investment in the initiative will amount to approximately $5 billion. In a statement, Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor described renewable hydrogen as "an essential tool for the energy transition." Engie and Masdar said they would leverage existing infrastructure to "initially target local supply, with the aim of expanding capacity to create a giga-scale green hydrogen hub for the GCC, with the potential to export to other markets." The GCC refers to the Gulf Cooperation Council, which consists of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries. It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. If the electricity