Aiming to explore the co-development of a UAE based green hydrogen hub, France's Engie and Abu Dhabi's Masdar have entered a strategic alliance. Under the agreement reached, the 2 partners will develop projects with a capacity of a minimum of 2 GW by 2030.
As per the information shared, they will initially target local supply to be able to expand capacity to create a giga-scale green hydrogen hub for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Potential plans include to export the green hydrogen thus produced to be exported to other markets. It is expected to incur an investment of $5 billion.
Both the companies will bring to the table their respective strengths with Masdar as an investor and developer of renewable energy projects, and Engie pooling in its expertise in green hydrogen development, they said (see 40 MW Solar Powered Electrolyzer Project In France).
Earlier in November 2021 during COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, the UAE announced its Hydrogen Leadership Roadmap to establish the country as a competitive exporter of hydrogen and support domestic, low-carbon industries in alignment with its net zero by 2050 ambition.
"This strategic alliance illustrates Engie's ambitious goals for the long-term development of renewable hydrogen, an essential tool for the energy transition," said Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor during the signing of the agreement on French President Emmanuel Macron's official state visit to the UAE.
Notably, France itself aims to install 6.5 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030 to produce renewable hydrogen.
This is yet another major announcement in the space of renewables and green hydrogen from the UAE. In November 2021, Abu Dhabi's ADNOC and Taqa announced a joint venture partnership aiming to develop at least 30 GW renewable energy generation capacity by 2030 to contribute to green hydrogen ambitions of Abu Dhabi (see 30 GW Renewable Energy Joint Venture In UAE).