Green hydrogen project inaugurated in Dubai

The MENA region’s first utility-scale, solar-powered green hydrogen project has been inaugurated at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.

An inauguration ceremony was held on Wednesday for the project, which was developed by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Expo 2020 Dubai and Siemens Energy.

Read our latest interview with Dietmar Siersdorfer, Siemens Energy’s Middle East and UAE managing director, for more on the company’s hydrogen vision.

The ceremony was led by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who chairs the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.

The UAE is positioning itself to become an international leader in the future hydrogen economy, which has an estimated USD 11-trillion market potential.

The country is well placed to develop a leadership position in the hydrogen economy due to its industrial capacity across the energy value chain, its geographical advantages and growing local and export demand. As part of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, the country aims to double the share of renewable energy in its energy matrix to 44%, while promoting energy efficiency and supply diversification.

With the launch of the project in Dubai, DEWA aims to demonstrate the production of green hydrogen from solar power, storage and re-electrification.

Also known as the Dubai solar park, the Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is scheduled to reach a total capacity of 5 GW by 2030 with an investment of USD 13.6 billion, of which a 1 GW will come from a CSP plant. It will become the largest single-site solar park in the world based on the IPP model and will save more than 6.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

 

Image courtesy Dubai Media Office