The UAE has commissioned German companies to develop the country’s national hydrogen strategy as it diversifies its energy mix and pursues a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure (MoEI) signed an agreement with Germany’s global engineering and advisory company GHD in partnership with applied research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft to develop its hydrogen strategy, it said on Sunday.
“We remain focused on our goal of capturing 25 per cent of the most important hydrogen market,” said Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei.
“Our ambition is to see the UAE become a world-leading authority on the role of hydrogen in the energy transition.”
The agreement comes as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia during a two-day Gulf tour that will also include Qatar. He hopes to agree on new energy partnerships with Gulf states after losing supplies from Russia as a result of a face-off between Europe and Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Mr Scholz’s visit comes amid Germany’s attempts to reduce its reliance on — and diversify away from — Russian energy supplies.
Before the Ukraine war, Russia supplied about 40 per cent of Europe’s natural gas. About 55 per cent of gas consumed in Germany was imported from Russia. Natural gas accounts for about 27 per cent of the energy mix of Europe’s largest economy.
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The UAE and other countries across the Middle East and North Africa region are pursuing plans to incorporate hydrogen into their energy mix and tap into the clean fuel for different industrial applications.
The UAE has set a goal of capturing 25 per cent of the global low-carbon hydrogen market by 2030 and is in discussions with several countries to export it, Mr Al Mazrouei said earlier this year. Demand for the clean fuel is surging globally amid efforts by governments to lower emissions.
Last year, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi state holding company ADQ formed an alliance to develop a global hydrogen hub. The alliance will focus on low-carbon green and blue hydrogen as part of the UAE’s energy diversification efforts.
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GHD has initially collaborated with the MoEI to assess the critical elements necessary to establish a hydrogen strategy in the UAE. This will set the direction for a hydrogen economy in the Emirates, the ministry said.
“Hydrogen could be a decarbonisation solution that provides multiple market opportunities across electricity, transportation and mobility, and the industrial sectors,” Sharif Al Olama, undersecretary of MoEI, said.
Proper infrastructure, technological readiness and market access must be in place for a booming hydrogen economy, the ministry said.
The new hydrogen strategy development deal comes after the two countries signed the UAE-German Energy Partnership in 2017 to enhance dialogue and provide a framework for cooperation in energy transition.
They have also launched a bilateral Hydrogen Taskforce, to engage ministries, companies and scientists in a systematic process to boost the hydrogen economy.
The countries aim to co-operate on upstream (joint production of green fuels), midstream (transport) and downstream (technology for industrial use) projects.
In June, a senior level UAE delegation was scheduled to visit Germany to explore ways the two countries can co-operate in the area of clean energy, particularly hydrogen, according to the UAE’s energy ministry.
