Business

Masdar and VERBUND to explore green hydrogen production for central Europe

Tags

Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with VERBUND, one of the largest producers of hydropower in Europe, to explore the production of green hydrogen for the central Europe market.

As per the agreement, the two companies will cooperate on developing pathways to produce and export green hydrogen to central Europe, specifically Austria and southern Germany.

Last year, Masdar announced the establishment of its green hydrogen business, with a goal of producing 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum by 2030.

Green hydrogen is produced from water electrolysis powered by renewable electricity. The resulting energy carrier can be used in many energy applications, in the form of hydrogen or converted to other derivatives for industry, power or transportation, supporting the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors.

With such a wide range of prospective uses and needs, green hydrogen demand is expected to grow greatly in the coming years. According to the International Energy Agency’s Global Hydrogen Review 2022, meeting governments’ climate pledges alone will require 34 million tonnes per annum by 2030.

“We are committed to developing our green hydrogen business as we see it playing a significant role in the global energy transition. We look forward to partnering with like-minded companies like VERBUND to accelerate investment in this sector and to meet growing demand in Europe,” said Mohamed Jameel Ramahi, chief executive officer, Masdar.

VERBUND generates close to 100% of its electricity from climate-friendly renewable energy, primarily hydropower, complemented by wind and solar, and is active in energy transmission and international trading. It believes green hydrogen will become a crucial building block to decarbonize industry and transport in Europe and has launched several flagship projects to expand its value chain into green hydrogen.

“Green hydrogen is the game-changer for a sustainable energy system, taking us a step closer to carbon neutrality. As a leading renewable energy company, VERBUND is working on the development and expansion of local hydrogen production as well as long-term import solutions,” said Michael Strugl, CEO, VERBUND. “We are very pleased about the cooperation we signed today with Masdar. Only with global partnerships like this one will we be able to achieve the goal of a successful sustainable energy transition.”

Masdar advances the development and deployment of renewable energy and green hydrogen technologies to address global sustainability challenges. Masdar is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. By 2030, the company is targeting a renewable energy portfolio capacity of at least 100 GW and annual green hydrogen production capacity of up to 1 million tonnes.

VERBUND generates around 97% of its electricity from renewable energy, primarily from hydropower. VERBUND trades electricity in 12 countries and is active in the generation of electricity, transmission and international trading and sales.