The NEOM Green Hydrogen Project in northwestern Saudi Arabia.|Africa Digest News
The Kingdom is betting on one company to turn NEOM’s hydrogen output into a European energy pipeline.
Saudi Arabia has entrusted ACWA Power with exporting green hydrogen and its derivatives, while also tasking the company with developing projects to generate, transmit and export renewable electricity, including interconnection links with Europe and the Arab world.
According to a filing by ACWA Power with the Saudi Exchange, known as Tadawul, the government has granted the company exclusive rights to export green hydrogen and its derivatives. That includes green ammonia, green methanol, green methane and other fuels produced using green hydrogen.
The move builds on Saudi Arabia’s existing investments in renewable energy and clean fuels, led by the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, one of the largest developments of its kind and a cornerstone of the Kingdom’s export ambitions.
Fuad Al-Zayer, an energy adviser and former head of the information department at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said ACWA Power was a natural choice given its scale. He noted the company holds more than 124 billion dollars in assets and nearly 98 gigawatts of generation capacity, including over 52 gigawatts from renewable
The NEOM Green Hydrogen Project is expected to produce about 600 tons of green hydrogen a day in the form of green ammonia once fully operational, with the first export shipments anticipated in 2027.
Al-Zayer said Europe is expected to be the primary market for these exports as it seeks secure, low-carbon energy supplies. He added that Saudi Arabia’s location and its large-scale projects in the Kingdom’s northwest give it an advantage in serving European buyers.
Partnerships with Italy, France and South Korea are helping develop the supply chains and infrastructure needed to expand the wider green hydrogen trade, according to Al-Zayer. He said continued investment in transport, storage, electrolysis facilities, water supply and logistics remains essential to support production at scale.
The Kingdom’s clean energy strategy sits within its Vision 2030 target of raising renewables’ share of electricity generation to around 50 percent by the end of the decade. Over the next decade, exports of renewable electricity and green hydrogen are expected to reduce domestic crude oil use for power generation, freeing more volumes for export.
