The UAE aims to be one of the world’s top ten low-carbon hydrogen producers by 2031 and will set out its ambitions in a hydrogen strategy due to be published in April, according to government officials speaking at the recent World Hydrogen MENA conference in Dubai.

The emirates have 28 projects in development, ten of which are larges-cale and seven that have either taken FID or begun demonstrating hydrogen production, says the energy ministry’s energy transition expert, Dipak Sakaria.

“In ten years’ time, [the UAE] will be heaving with hydrogen projects, but we have not reached that,” Sakaria says.

The government has identified three potential hydrogen hubs in the country, with construction “already underway” for the first hydrogen valley, adds the UAE energy ministry’s director of future energy, Nawal Alhanaee.

“We already have shipping routes and networks to kick off the global hydrogen trade” Abi Chahla, Masdar

“We are working with the [Gulf Cooperation Council] and the EU” to ensure consistent regulations, particularly around green hydrogen, she says. The country is also moving forward to establish a certification scheme.

The Emirati hydrogen strategy is also likely to explore options for local offtake of low-carbon hydrogen and the production of hydrogen derivatives and finished products. “We have already started greening steel and aluminium” at plants in Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates, Sakaria says, adding that “a lot of hydrogen will be used within the UAE”.

However, the UAE is cautious when it comes to allocating land to projects, in contrast to Oman, which is due to close its bidding process for leasing land on 15 March. Low-carbon hydrogen “is nowhere near the cost curve” to commit large areas of land at this stage, Sakaria says.

Similarly, officials remain tight-lipped on whether the strategy will include capital or operational support for green hydrogen projects. Sakaria highlights the UAE’s 5pc rate for VAT as an existing incentive to attract business to the country.

Export ambitions

The UAE has previously stated its ambitions to corner a quarter of global hydrogen trade. The country is in a “strategic location… we already have shipping routes and networks to kick off the global hydrogen trade,” says Gisele Abi Chahla, senior manager for technology at state-owned renewables developer Masdar.

The developer targets 1mn t/yr of green hydrogen production by 2030, and recently signed memorandums of understanding to potentially supply volumes to Austrian utility Verbund and the port of Amsterdam.

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Author: Polly Martin