Abu Dhabi National Oil Company- ADNOC Group will build the Middle East’s first high-speed hydrogen refuelling station. Located in Masdar City, it will create clean hydrogen from water using an electrolyser powered by clean grid electricity.
Hydrogen can give vehicles a more extended driving range and faster fuelling times than battery-electric vehicles. To this end, ADNOC is partnering with Toyota and Al-Futtaim Motors to test the high-speed hydrogen refuelling station using a fleet of clean hydrogen-powered vehicles. As per the deal, Toyota and Al Futtaim Motors will provide a fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles.
The Abu Dhabi-based energy major said, “The pilot programme will highlight how hydrogen with high-speed refuelling can best be used in mobility projects to support the UAE’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which aims to position the country among the largest producers of hydrogen by 2031.”
“ADNOC is placing sustainability and decarbonisation at the heart of its strategy and, while we decarbonise our operations today, we are making robust investments to be a supplier of choice for the clean energies of tomorrow,” said Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC managing director and group CEO.
“Hydrogen will be a critical fuel for the energy transition, helping to decarbonise economies at scale, and it is a natural extension of our core business. Through this pilot programme, we will gather important data on how hydrogen transportation technology performs as we continue to develop the UAE’s hydrogen infrastructure.”
The station is expected to begin its operation by this year, once completed by ADNOC Distribution. A second station, in Dubai Golf City, will be built using a conventional hydrogen fueling system.
The project has come weeks after the UAE approved its national hydrogen strategy that aims to increase the country’s investments in hydrogen.
It maybe noted that the UAE has ambitious plans to invest around $54.5bn (Dhs200bn) as part of its updated national energy strategy, aiming at tripling the contribution of renewable energy over the next seven years.
ADNOC will also invest Dhs55bn to enhance and accelerate lower-carbon solutions by investing in new energies and decarbonisation technologies to reduce its carbon intensity by 25 per cent by 2030 and achieve its Net Zero by 2050 ambition.
