Dubai (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates aims to produce 1.4 million tonnes of hydrogen annually by 2031 and expects the figure to increase tenfold to 15 million by 2050, an energy ministry official said on Tuesday.
One of the world’s top oil exporters, the UAE is preparing to host the UN’s climate conference COP28 from the end of November and its climate credentials have come under scrutiny.
Its hydrogen targets are part of a wider revision of the Gulf state’s energy strategy for 2050 to better align the plan, announced in 2017, with a mid-century goal of climate neutrality.
Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs Sharif Alolama told Reuters green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy, should become progressively cheaper and the UAE should be a leading producer.
“We have recognised that hydrogen will be a major part in the energy mix, may be not over the next three to five years but more within 10,” he said.
Policy frameworks, including the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and subsidies introduced in Europe and India, will reduce costs by encouraging production at scale, Alolama said.
Of the total 1.4 million tonnes, the UAE’s clean energy firm Masdar is expected to produce 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2031 with the remaining 0.4 million tonnes blue hydrogen, produced using natural gas.
Two “hydrogen oases” or hubs for production will be located in Ruwais and the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), and 2050 there would be a total of five hubs, Alolama said.
The country’s revised energy plan includes tripling renewable energy capacity from to 14 gigawatts by 2030 from 3.2 gigawatts now.
Total energy generation costs are expected to go down by 100-150 billion dirhams by 2030 as a result.
The UAE climate minister separately announced on Tuesday an updated national climate pledge under the Paris Agreement on climate change to cut emissions by 40% by 2030, raising its target from 31%.
