UAE and UK cooperation in investments and technology enhances hydrogen projects and reduces industrial emissions

Abu Dhabi, January 15 / WAM / Clean energy experts in the United Kingdom revealed expectations of an increase in the level of cooperation between the United Kingdom and the UAE in the hydrogen sector.

The World Future Energy Summit sessions indicated that enhancing the pace of this cooperation will contribute to supporting the two countries’ ambitions to reduce emissions in the industrial sector, especially in light of the existing exchange of expertise in the field of advanced technology, and vital financial investments in major infrastructure projects between them.

The United Kingdom needs investments of £9 billion (US$12.1 billion) to increase low-emission hydrogen production to 10 gigawatts by 2030, the primary target in the first hydrogen strategy launched by the British government in 2021.

With the reformulation of this strategy imminent, the United Kingdom has an exceptional opportunity to reaffirm its global role in the field of climate action, and build a strong hydrogen sector that contributes to driving the sector’s growth, and reducing emissions in heavy industry.

The British government pledged to allocate 164 million pounds sterling to the ambitious Union Project, which aims to repurpose existing natural gas pipelines, and build new ones when needed, to create a 1,500-mile hydrogen transport infrastructure network across Britain, integrating with the country’s electric transformation initiatives.

The main stakeholders in the Union project, namely the Gas and Electricity Markets Regulatory Authority and National Gas, have initiated important steps to build this network, which aims to connect hydrogen producers with storage facilities and consumers in key regions, enable decarbonization efforts within the industrial sector on a large scale, and enhance energy security and flexibility within the future United Kingdom system that aims to achieve zero neutrality.

Experts point out that expanding the scope of the United Kingdom’s efforts in the green hydrogen sector, and moving from pilot projects and limited use cases to integration initiatives at the sector level, requires huge and sustainable funding. Here the role of the UAE emerges, as it is able to employ investment corridors in order to enable the British hydrogen process and push it forward, and the opposite is also true, as confirms Cammy Booth, Regional Director at the Center for Zero Neutrality Technologies in the UAE.

Commenting on this issue, Cammy Booth said: Capital is not enough to bridge the £9 billion hydrogen investment gap in the United Kingdom. Rather, we need committed partners. Investors from the public and private sectors in the UAE can contribute to financing hydrogen infrastructure, local manufacturing, and pioneering projects that are the first of their kind in the United Kingdom, and in return obtain long-term stakes in one of the leading markets in the hydrogen sector, diversify export routes, and build flexible supply chains that benefit both economies.

Booth added: By transferring decades of experience in major energy projects, hydrogen oases and industrial parks in the UAE, and integrating them within the cluster model adopted in the United Kingdom, along with existing Emirati investments in leading British projects in the blue and green hydrogen sector, such as the Teesside project, we can succeed in moving schemes from the pilot stage to the stage of bankable assets on a large scale, while adhering to the vital time frame of 2030.

As the Union project progresses, carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies will play a pivotal role in supporting hydrogen value chains, such as sustainable aviation fuels and synthetic fuels, which are part of an integrated solution package to decarbonize heavy industries, including the aviation sector.

In this context, Krishna Kumar Singhania, Chief Growth Officer at Carbon Clean in Britain, spoke on the sidelines of the summit, where he said that our participation in the e-fuel design and planning center will contribute to advancing technical progress and enhancing the production capabilities of e-fuels beyond the borders of the United Kingdom. This integrated approach is highly applicable in the UAE, where there is an ideal environment for rapid implementation due to the magnitude of the industrial sector and the presence of great ambition at the national level.

The progress in completing the Union project represents a decisive step in the efforts of the Gas and Electricity Markets Regulatory Authority and National Gas, which aims to establish the main hydrogen network in Britain, which aims to connect hydrogen producers with storage facilities and consumers in key regions, enable decarbonization efforts within the industrial sector on a large scale, and enhance energy security and flexibility within the United Kingdom system that aims to achieve zero neutrality.

The success of these endeavors depends on several factors, most notably the size of the projects, the strength of capital, technical expertise, and actual long-term commitment, especially with the hydrogen market in the United Kingdom entering a more mature stage. In this context, the United Kingdom has made progress in adopting a clear and stable regulatory framework that gives the UAE and other international partners the confidence necessary to pump large and large-scale investments.

Booth added that the United Kingdom’s success in this path reflects positively on supporting and developing the hydrogen sector in the UAE. He said: “British companies play a pivotal role in supporting the UAE’s accelerating ambitions in the field of hydrogen, by providing world-class innovations, export infrastructure development expertise, and skills development and building frameworks, which contribute to accelerating the implementation of projects along the value chain, starting from the new generation of electrolyzers to hydrogen-derived fuels.”

He said: We focus on investing British expertise in UAE projects, within initiatives such as the ‘Hydrogen Backbone Link’ of the Center for Zero Neutrality Technologies, and the Hydrogen Skills Framework, which allows British institutions to help the country take advantage of its strategic location between Europe and Asia to create global hydrogen centers capable of competing, in parallel with building qualified and sustainable national cadres in the long term.

For his part, Gareth Rapley, Director of the Energy Portfolio and Marine Sector Operations at RX Global, the leading British company and organizer of the World Future Energy Summit, said that strengthening partnerships between the UAE and the United Kingdom within the hydrogen system confirms the unique role of the World Future Energy Summit, as an important platform for cooperation, innovation, and accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies among various stakeholders that share the same vision and ambition.

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