The biggest oil-exporting region in the world, the Middle East, has set its sights on becoming a major clean energy exporter of green hydrogen. The largest oil producers in the Arab Gulf have jumped on the hydrogen bandwagon — especially its so-called green variety produced from water electrolysis using electricity from solar or wind — as it gains momentum with governments and the world’s largest international oil companies. Hydrogen is expected to play a prominent role in lowering carbon emissions from energy-intensive industries. And the Middle East doesn’t want to miss out on this opportunity. On the one hand, it wants to show the world it can export clean energy—not only crude oil—as the global energy transition accelerates. On the other hand, the oil-dependent economies of some of OPEC’s largest producers are determined to diversify into green energy exports and away from oil.
Dubai launched the first industrial-scale green hydrogen project in the region, while Oman announced plans to build one of the largest green hydrogen plants in the world. Dubai, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is currently OPEC’s third-largest oil producer, launched the first industrial-scale, solar-powered green hydrogen facility in the Middle East and North Africa in collaboration with Siemens Energy, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), and Expo 2020 Dubai. The region’s top oil producer and the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is also eyeing green hydrogen projects and a share of the emerging clean hydrogen market. NEOM, the future sustainable city promoted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, signed last year a deal with Air Products and Saudi ACWA Power for a $5 billion green hydrogen-based ammonia production project, which will export the product. All these plans suggest that the oil powerhouse Middle East is not immune to the energy transition and growing global demand for clean energy products.