Monday, 20 May, 2024
UAE is the federation of seven emirates along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The economy is dominated by petroleum produced primarily in the Abu Dhabi emirate. Abu Dhabi contains one of the largest concentrations of the world’s proven oil reserves and contributes a significant portion of the national budget. The emirate of Dubai, whose economy is centered more on business than on oil, serves as a commercial and financial hub for the region and leads the country in economic diversification. Abu Dhabi is responsible for country's 95 percent of oil production and production of petroleum and natural gas contributes about one-third of the nation’s GDP [1]..
UAE has enjoyed a constant and steep rise in GDP at ~508 billion USD in 2022 and is expected to reach ~640 billion USD in 2028 [2]. The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 targets an energy mix that combines renewable, nuclear, and clean energy sources to meet the UAE’s economic requirements and environmental goals with renewables contributing nearly ~50 percent by 2050[3]. Currently RE supply is dominated by solar PV with over 90 percent of the energy supply. Majority of power generation today is attributed to fossil fuels (~85 percent) [4] as seen in the graph below. UAE is targeting more than 11 GW capacity of RE by 2024 as power generation is the key agenda for decarbonization.
UAE is targeting 25 Percent of global hydrogen market by 2030[1]. UAE’s hydrogen demand is expected to reach 4-10 MTPA by 2050 from 0.5 MTPA in 2020. Hydrogen demand in UAE stood at ~500,000 tons in 2019, driven mainly by industrial applications (fertilizer, steel and oil refining)
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UAE is well positioned to be a global leader in low-carbon hydrogen and key points are:
Solar Potential - Nearly, all available land in UAE can be utilized to produce 1.8-1.9 MWh/kWp of energy, which falls in the higher range for solar potential, hence presenting tremendous potential for solar energy in UAE.
Wind Potential: Wind energy potential is on the lower side of the spectrum with density of just 260 W/m2, which is available at nearly 80% of the country’s area.
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Engie Masdar Hydrogen Hub: Engie and Masdar have formed a USD 5 billion strategic alliance to drive UAE’s green hydrogen economy. The two companies are looking to develop projects with a capacity of at least 2 GW by 2030[1].
TAQA and Abu Dhabi ports green ammonia plant: The group is planning 2 GW of Green hydrogen to ammonia project[2].
TAQA and Emirates Steel: The partnership is aiming to develop a large-scale green hydrogen project enabling the first green steel produced in the MENA region[3].
Siemens and Masdar: Siemens Energy and UAE-based clean energy firm Masdar completed a hydrogen demonstrator plant in 2022 in the country's capital and to focus on showcasing sustainable aviation fuel as part of efforts to create a green hydrogen industry in OPEC's third-biggest producer[4]
Siemens and Masdar: Siemens Energy and UAE-based clean energy firm Masdar completed a hydrogen demonstrator plant in 2022 in the country's capital and to focus on showcasing sustainable aviation fuel as part of efforts to create a green hydrogen industry in OPEC's third-biggest producer
Sharjah Waste to H2 plant: BEEAH Energy, a subsidiary of BEEAH Group, the Middle East's leading sustainability pioneer, and UK-based Chinook Sciences, have signed an official agreement to commence the development of the region's first waste-to-hydrogen plant to produce combined low-cost ground-breaking green hydrogen and high-quality activated carbon [5].
Helios Kizad:Helios Industry, a privately-owned special project vehicle company (SPV), plans to invest over AED3.67 billion (USD1 billion) in the construction of the facility over several years, which it aims to develop with local and international partners in two phases and is projected to produce 200,000 tons of green ammonia from 40,000 tons of green hydrogen. The Helios facility located in KIZAD, will be powered by a dedicated 800-megawatt solar power plant within KIZAD soon, with capacity of 100MW in phase 1.