Masdar and OMV to decarbonise refineries

Growing clean energy company Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has signed a non-binding heads of terms (HoT) development agreement with OMV – an integrated company for energy, feedstock, chemicals, materials and fuels – in a bid to develop a partnership focussing on the production of green hydrogen for the decarbonisation of industrial processes in refineries owned by OMV.

The HoT is the initial part of a joint agreement to develop an industrial large-scale electrolysis plant that will run off renewable energy. The final investment decision (FID) for the project will take place in the second half of 2024 as part of the company’s push to develop the project further.

The non-binding agreement was signed at the UN climate change conference (COP28) in Dubai, and came after the signing of an MoU in Abu Dhabi the previous year.

Masdar’s chief green hydrogen officer, Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi, said regarding the deal: “This co-operation agreement with OMV is another step in the right direction towards building a robust hydrogen value chain and supports our ongoing aim of 1mn tonnes of green hydrogen per annum globally by 2030.”

The UAE’s Masdar has been developing its hydrogen production capabilities since 2008 and is currently engaged in investing in more strategic projects while building scalable platforms in key markets around the world. This has been happening alongside the UAE’s national climate goals – aiming to become carbon neutral by 2050. An important part of this shift to clean energy will be the development of green hydrogen facilities producing the fuel through electrolysis from renewable electricity for use in its refineries.

As one of the UAE’s energy champions, Masdar – since its creation in 2006 – has developed projects in over 40 countries with the aim of helping them achieve their clean energy objectives and to improve their sustainable development processes.

The company is currently jointly owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala) and Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA). Under this ownership, Masdar is planning to develop a renewable energy portfolio capacity of around 100 GW by 2030 alongside an annual green hydrogen production capacity of 1mn tonnes.