Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company “Masdar” announced, on 13 January 2023, the signing of an agreement with the “Port of Amsterdam”, “Sky NRG”, “Ivos Amsterdam”, and “Zenith Energy”, to explore ways to develop a green hydrogen supply chain between Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam to support needs of the Dutch and European market.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, President-designate of the COP28 Conference, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Masdar Company; Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. And it was signed by Mohammed Jamil Al Ramahi, CEO of Masdar; Gert Jan Nieuwenhuizen, Managing Director, International Port of Amsterdam; Martin Van Dyke, Chief Development Officer, SkyNRG; Bart van der Meer, Director of Commercial Development at Avios; Aileen Rohtas, General Manager, New Energies, Zenith Energy.
Al Jaber said, “In line with the leadership’s directives to develop the green hydrogen sector, and as an extension of the strong cooperation and partnership relations between the UAE and the friendly Kingdom of the Netherlands, the signing of this agreement reflects the two countries’ joint commitment to seek to develop effective solutions to secure low or zero-emission energy sources. The UAE is looking forward to playing a pivotal role in the rapidly growing hydrogen economy, and we are confident that our cooperation with the Port of Amsterdam and other companies active in the green hydrogen field will contribute to the consolidation of Abu Dhabi’s position as a prominent centre for the development of this vital field.
For his part, Wupke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said, “The Netherlands is keen to strengthen partnership relations with major green hydrogen exporting countries in the future, such as the United Arab Emirates. The Netherlands has good potential to become a hydrogen market centre in Northwest Europe. We welcome cooperation between Dutch and Emirati companies in the field of hydrogen, and we look forward to strengthening this cooperation between the two countries.”
Green hydrogen
Green hydrogen is produced by green electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as wind or solar energy, in a process that separates the water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen by electrolysis. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, hydrogen will be an essential component of the zero-emissions energy system and will play a major role in decarbonising sectors that are difficult to operate with electricity, such as heavy industry and the transportation sector. The global green hydrogen market is expected to reach $72 billion by 2030, while PwC has estimated that hydrogen demand could range from 150 to 500 million metric tonnes per year by 2050.
