Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and its partners kicked off the construction work at the world’s largest green hydrogen project in NEOM, according to reports, as the Kingdom moves forward with aspirations to be a global leader in green energy.
The project is a $5 billion world-scale green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility powered by renewable energy, and is a joint venture between Air Products, ACWA Power and NEOM.
The technology for producing green hydrogen on a mass-scale is still unproven, but the market could be worth $700 billion annually by 2050 if manufacturers can bring down costs. Challenges for the green hydrogen industry include creating the market demand for it, making the cost of renewable energies required to produce it viable, and finding a solution to the storage of hydrogen, which is volatile.
Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and its partners kicked off the construction work at the world’s largest green hydrogen project in NEOM.
Still, the time is ripe to tap into hydrogen’s potential contribution to a sustainable energy system, the IEA says.
The now under-construction hydrogen-generating plant at NEOM is likely to be the crown jewel in Saudi Arabia’s forthcoming National Hydrogen Strategy, which is still being finalized but reportedly will outline plans to attract more than $36 billion of investment by 2030 in the space.
The Saudi Ministry of Energy’s Ahmed Al-Dowsary said recently the forthcoming strategy focuses on key elements of the value chain, including production, exports, and domestic use of clean hydrogen, and from an industry perspective, on the infrastructure and transport sector, according to a report in Zawya. Al-Dowsary added that Saudi Arabia is “open to engaging with all IRENA member countries for hydrogen synergies, with engagements already underway with some European Union countries.”
Saudi Arabia is eying exports of green hydrogen by 2026, according to Peter Terium, the head of energy and water for the new region, in comments to Bloomberg. In March, Bloomberg reported that engineers have finished flattening the site in northwestern Saudi Arabia and U.S.-based Air Products & Chemicals Inc. will soon begin building the facility, he said.
