A new report says that the UAE and the UK could lead the world in making clean hydrogen through a partnership that includes policy, innovation, trade, and investment.

The World Green Economy Organisation and Zest Associates, a sustainability consulting firm in the UAE, worked together on the report, and HSBC sponsored it.

It uses the ideas and studies of about 100 hydrogen experts from around the world to rank 39 areas across policy, innovation, investment, infrastructure, supply, demand, and skills. The preliminary findings were presented during the World Green Economy Summit 2022.

Saeed Mohammed Al-Tayer, who is the chairman of WGEO, an international platform based in the UAE that builds coalitions to help green economic growth around the world, said: 

"We have an ambitious strategy in place to produce and leverage green hydrogen, which represents one of the pillars of a sustainable future that depends on accelerating the transition to carbon neutrality to support a green economy.

"This study is part of our work to support the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050, which aim to get all of Dubai's energy from clean sources by 2050.

“This report shows how the UAE and the UK can forge a robust partnership to develop the green hydrogen sector. Both the public and private sectors in both countries have taken strong steps and shown a willingness to work together. However, more and faster steps need to be taken to fully realise the economic and environmental potential of green hydrogen.

"This is in line with WGEO's goal of a global economic transition by sharing the best global experiences and practices, which are key to this change." Through this comprehensive study, we intend to help accelerate the clean hydrogen industry in both countries by identifying priorities and finding opportunities to strengthen cooperation."

According to the report, by 2050, hydrogen is expected to contribute more than $8.7 billion to the UAE economy and $14.8 billion to the UK economy, as well as over 100,000 new jobs in each country under high-adoption scenarios. 

These opportunities are driving multibillion-dollar investments, both individually and collectively, through bilateral agreements like the strategic cooperation between BP, ADNOC, and Masdar to create low-carbon hydrogen hubs like the UK's H2Teesside.

Sabrin Rahman, managing director and head of sustainability for Europe and the Middle East at HSBC, said: 

"By working together, the UAE and UK can harness hydrogen’s enormous economic potential and lead the global low-carbon transition. The International Energy Agency says that to get to net zero by 2030, $1.2 trillion will need to be spent on hydrogen. At HSBC, we recognise the huge potential of this sector, and we’re working with partners and policymakers to develop the clean hydrogen ecosystem as part of a net zero future.”

Jeffrey Beyer, managing director at Zest Associates and the report’s author, said: 

“Clean hydrogen is an opportunity to grow and diversify the economies of the UAE and UK whilst making progress on their net zero commitments... (and) both countries are already the strongest hydrogen partners globally and should enhance this special relationship via bilateral platforms to coordinate hydrogen supply chains and research and demonstration initiatives for new hydrogen technologies.”

The report says that existing agreements could be made bigger and more focused on hydrogen to match the level of investment needed to get to net zero. 

The UK Office for Investment and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company signed the £10 billion ($11.5 billion) UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership, and the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on Industrial and Advanced Technologies Cooperation.

Source: Arab News

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