Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), compatriot Masdar and UK supermajor BP have signed deals to develop hydrogen and technology hubs in the UK and the United Arab Emirates in a major cleaner-energy push.
In the UK, Adnoc is joining the design phase of the H2Teesside blue hydrogen project, the companies said on Tuesday.
Adnoc — the UAE’s largest energy company — will take a 25% stake in the design stage of H2Teesside, marking its first investment in the UK.
H2Teesside aims to develop two 500-megawatt hydrogen production units by 2030. The project is set to begin operations in 2027.
Separately, Masdar and BP signed a memorandum of understanding to explore collaboration on the HyGreen Teesside green hydrogen project, to be powered by offshore wind, it said.
Adnoc and BP will also carry out a joint feasibility study for a low-carbon hydrogen project in Abu Dhabi.
The trio have also agreed to explore the production of sustainable aviation fuels in the UAE using solar-to-green hydrogen and municipal waste gasification, leveraging the capabilities of the UAE’s Tadweer (Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre) and Etihad Airways, Adnoc noted.
Adnoc chief executive Sultan Ahmed al Jaber said: “Our role in Teesside will represent Adnoc’s first investment into the UK and help to accelerate innovation in the decarbonisation of energy in industrial sectors.”
BP chief executive Bernard Looney said: “Adnoc and Masdar’s involvement reinforces the world-leading role that Teesside and the UK more widely can play in leading the development of low-carbon hydrogen for low-carbon economies.
“Our partnership with Adnoc and Masdar stretches internationally and will be able to help decarbonise some of the most hard-to-abate sectors in the world — like industrial manufacturing, power and aviation — in a sustainable way.”
The UK government recently set an “ambition” to build up to 10 gigawatts of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, double a target unveiled under a national hydrogen strategy in August 2021.
The new partnership builds on framework agreements signed last year.
The BP-operated Northern Endurance Partnership will develop the CCS infrastructure to export and store CO2 emissions from industrial clusters in Teesside and Humberside.
