DEWA Advances Green Hydrogen Production in the Middle East with Pioneering Pilot Project at Solar Park

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) supports the national and global climate ambitions to expand the use of green energy by utilising the latest innovations and research that drive sustainable development.

These include the transition towards hydrogen production from renewable energy sources. DEWA has implemented a pilot Green Hydrogen project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. It is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to produce hydrogen using solar energy. It stores the hydrogen and then converts it back into electrical energy in addition to other uses in the air, land, and sea transport as well as in industry.

Implementing this project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world, which will have a production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030, contributes to achieving competitive prices in producing green hydrogen. The production of green hydrogen is mainly carried out through electrolysis using renewable energy sources. DEWA has achieved world-class results for solar energy prices, making Dubai a global benchmark for solar energy prices. The Green Hydrogen project is part of DEWA’s ongoing efforts to reduce green hydrogen production and storage costs, which in turn lowers the cost of clean energy production and increases its efficiency.

The Green Hydrogen project that DEWA has implemented in cooperation with Expo 2020 Dubai and Siemens Energy, produces about 400 kilogrammes of hydrogen daily, and the hydrogen gas tank can store up to 12 hours of hydrogen produced using solar energy. The plant uses Hydrogen through a combined heat and power unit of about 300 kilowatts of electrical energy.

The project has been designed and built to accommodate future applications and test platforms for various uses of hydrogen, including energy production and transportation. DEWA is preparing a roadmap for Hydrogen Strategy that will be implemented in phases. This supports the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 to provide 100% of the energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.

“DEWA supports the UAE’s goal regarding the low carbon hydrogen market, which is expected to reach more than USD 400 billion, and strengthen the UAE’s global competitiveness in the green hydrogen market. This is in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. We also support the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28), hosted by the UAE at Expo City Dubai, in which DEWA is participating as a Principal Pathway Partner. COP28 will look at the broad spectrum of solutions from deploying renewable energy at scale and how hydrogen can support this. There is an increasing global interest in green hydrogen-based investments and partnerships, as it is a clean and carbon-free fuel that contributes to mitigating the effects of global warming. As such, we look forward to achieving tangible results in terms of the just energy transition and achieving Net-Zero to support the green economy. This will benefit the UAE and the global energy market,”

said HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA.

“The UAE's ability to deliver large-scale renewable energy at world-record low costs is key to the production of economically competitive green hydrogen. This emerging clean energy carrier can play a wide range of roles in decarbonising the domestic UAE industrial sector, providing clean fuels for the nation's crucial aviation and shipping businesses, and helping other countries decarbonise via the supply of hydrogen and low-carbon derivatives. Today's projects are vital in setting off on the path outlined by the UAE's national hydrogen strategy, and supporting COP28's goals,”

said Robin Mills, CEO, Qamar Energy.

“It is timely and welcome news that DEWA is exploring pilot projects in green hydrogen and hence has started to put the UAE’s climatic and technical resources to good use. Implemented at the largest single-site solar park in the world, it is the first project of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa; it is already well on its way and is being implemented with strong partners. The world will learn from it, and we are all curopis how far it can go”

said Dr. Christof Rühl, Senior Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University.

In recognition of its efforts in promoting the transition towards renewable and clean energy, DEWA has won the Hydrogen Project of the Year 2023 Award for its green hydrogen project at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This was part of the Hydrogen Future Awards 2023, organised during the ‘Connecting Green Hydrogen MENA’ (CGHM2023) conference in Dubai.

News Source: Dubai Media Office