Abu Dhabi's Masdar Extends Hydrogen Deadline

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Abu Dhabi's state-backed renewable energy company Masdar (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) is reigning in its green hydrogen ambitions even as it celebrates the launch of a successful green steel pilot project.

The company confirmed that its previously announced 2030 target of more than 1 million tons of green hydrogen production globally will now be reached "within a decade," a potential delay of up to four years. The new timeline was revealed in a press statement about the green steel project, but no reason was given for the delay. Green hydrogen projects are proving to be far more expensive and slower to get up to scale than previously thought. Masdar is involved in a number of green hydrogen initiatives globally, including the giant NEOM hydrogen plant project in the UAE.

The company has just announced the successful completion of a pilot project demonstrating the use of green hydrogen to produce green steel at the Mussafah steel and manufacturing hub south of Abu Dhabi. The project was developed with plant owner EMSTEEL (Abu Dhabi), the UAE's largest publicly listed steel and building materials company and is the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. Powered by solar, the renewable hydrogen produced by the project was certified by Avance Labs, the hydrogen code manager accredited by the International Tracking Standard Foundation, in accordance with the recently released ISO 19870 methodology for hydrogen. The companies have not revealed which electrolyser technology is being used at the pilot nor any future plans for expansion of the project to a commercial scale operation.

"This project demonstrates world-class innovation as a result of our partnership with EMSTEEL to produce green steel utilizing green hydrogen," said Masdar Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi. "Decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries is vital to the global undertaking to achieve the objectives of the historic UAE Consensus agreed at COP28. Green hydrogen is an essential element in advancing national and global decarbonization efforts and we are proud to be at the forefront of that endeavor."

Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, group chief executive officer of EMSTEEL, commented: "We are committed to propelling decarbonization efforts in the sector, in support of the UAE's Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. Our efforts to date have been fruitful, with our current utilization of clean energy sources rising above 80% in 2023. EMSTEEL is also the first steelmaker in the world to capture part of its CO2 emissions, enabling us to operate with 45% less carbon intensity than the global average. Our partnership with Masdar will play a key role in continuing to build on our efforts to decarbonize this hard-to-abate sector and the downstream supply chain."

Speaking to Bloomberg, Al Remeithi, added that "green hydrogen is currently more expensive. This highlights the need for alignment with regulators, suppliers, steel producers and customers."

Industrial Info is tracking Masdar's US$8.4 billion NEOM hydrogen plant project, the world's largest utility-scale, commercially based hydrogen facility powered by renewable energy. Full financing for the project was achieved last year by developer, NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) (NEOM, Saudi Arabia). The initial goal for the plant is to start producing green hydrogen from 100% renewable energy in 2026, producing enough hydrogen via electrolysis to make 600 tons of green ammonia per day--1.2 million tonnes per year. The facility will integrate up to 4 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power, utilizing around 5.6 million solar panels and more than250 wind turbines to power 2.2 gigawatts (GW) of electrolysers. A separate 30-year offtake deal has also been agreed with Air Products (NYSE:APD) (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania) for all of the green ammonia produced at the plant, which will be exported globally. It forms part of the ambitious desert-based NEOM city and industrial project, which will cover 26,500 square kilometers, covering multiple regions and include a floating industrial complex, global trade hub, tourist resorts and a linear city--all powered by renewable energy. The cost is estimated at more than US$500 billion but the overall project is less than original estimates. For additional information, see June 16, 2023, article - Saudi's $8 Billion NEOM Hydrogen Project Secures Full Funding.

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