UAE’s Masdar, Port of Amsterdam, SkyNRG, Evos Amsterdam and Zenith Energy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the development of a green hydrogen supply chain between Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam to support Dutch and European markets.
The MoU was signed by Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, Gert-Jan Nieuwenhuizen, Managing Director for the Port of Amsterdam, Maarten van Dijk, Chief Development Officer of SkyNRG, Bart van der Meer, Business Development Manager, Evos, and Ellen Ruhotas, Managing Director New Energies for Zenith Energy. The agreement was signed in the presence of Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, COP28 President-Designate, and Chairman of Masdar, and Wopke Hoekstra, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands.
Under this MoU, the parties will join their efforts to develop a green hydrogen supply chain, focusing on production in Abu Dhabi and export to the Netherlands through the port of Amsterdam.
The exported green hydrogen will be delivered to key European sectors – sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), steelmaking, and bunkering for shipping – and will also be supplied to new, emerging European offtakers, via pipeline, truck and barge. Together, the parties will explore several hydrogen transportation methods, with a focus on liquid organic hydrogen carriers and liquid hydrogen.
Port of Amsterdam, the operator of Europe’s fourth-largest port, is committed to scaling up green hydrogen capabilities and is working closely with commercial parties active in its port on green hydrogen development. SkyNRG, a global leader in SAF, is developing a network of SAF production facilities that require green hydrogen as input. Zenith Energy and Evos Amsterdam are the operators of some of the most prominent blending and storage terminals in the port, with Zenith developing a liquid hydrogen supply chain, while Evos Amsterdam is working on a liquid organic hydrogen carrier supply chain.
Green hydrogen is produced with green electricity from renewables like wind or solar, in a process that separates water into oxygen and hydrogen via electrolysis. The International Renewable Energy Agency has stated that hydrogen will be an essential component of a net-zero energy system and has a key role to play in decarbonising sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy industry and long-haul transport. The global green hydrogen market is projected to reach US$72 billion by 2030, while PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), has estimated that by 2050, hydrogen demand could be between 150 and 500 million metric tonnes per year.
Last December, Masdar announced its new shareholding structure and green hydrogen business unit, with a goal of achieving 100 GW renewable energy capacity and green hydrogen production of 1 million tonnes per annum annually by 2030. Masdar is actively involved in a number of projects related to green hydrogen production. Last year, Masdar signed agreements with leading Egyptian state-backed organisations to cooperate on the development of green hydrogen production plants in the country, targeting an electrolyzer capacity of 4 gigawatts by 2030, and output of up to 480,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.
