Delegation of the European Union to the UAE and the EU-GCC Clean Energy Technology Network hosted the ?EU Hydrogen Online Forum in the UAE: Hydrogen, the Energy Carrier of the Future? this week
The online forum saw the participation of HE Andrea Matteo Fontana, Ambassador of the European Union to the UAE; HE Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy; HE Suhail Al Mazroui, minister for energy and infrastructure of the UAE; Francesco La Camera, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, secretary-general of Hydrogen Europe.
The virtual meet outlined the importance of hydrogen produced from renewable electricity and its role in reaching the goals set down in the Paris Agreement. Hydrogen is a versatile and climate-neutral energy carrier that can be used to drive down greenhouse gas emissions in sectors that are otherwise difficult to decarbonise.
The Gulf region in UAE has the favourable conditions for producing cost-effective hydrogen. The UAE, a regional leader in clean energy is ideally positioned to capitalise a rapidly expanding renewable hydrogen export market worldwide, expected to reach a value of US$300bn by 2050, once it is ready to resolve the obstacles pertaining to transport and storage technologies, certification schemes, and market designs.
HE Andrea Matteo Fontana, Ambassador of the European Union to the UAE, said, "The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the vulnerabilities of our traditional economic model and changed the context for the clean energy transition worldwide. Our European Green Deal guides EU green recovery dialogues and cooperation with our partners including the UAE. Through the recovery we can press fast forward to the green energy transition and jointly reach the goals of the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal."
HE Suhail Al Mazroui, minister for Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE, noted "We are very excited of the recent instruction by HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Vice chairman of the emirate?s Supreme Petroleum Council, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to instruct ADNOC to develop together with the different stakeholders in the country a hydrogen strategy to enable the full potential of hydrogen in the UAE."
The production and export of renewable hydrogen will not just push the UAE?s goals for clean energy and economic diversification, but will make sure that it retains a strong presence in the energy market.
