The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the potential to become a future supplier of renewable hydrogen to Europe, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WMA) cited a top EU official as saying on Monday.
According to Kadri Simson, the European Union commissioner for energy, the UAE offers much potential with its abundant solar energy and interest in hydrogen power.
“It cannot be excluded that in the future, the UAE would export renewable hydrogen to Europe to meet the growing demand,” Simson said.
He also called on “other pioneers across the globe to prioritize this renewable resource.
“What is important for us, in addition to scaling up renewable hydrogen in the EU, is to create a global hydrogen market that would facilitate production and trade,” he said.
With the rising importance of hydrogen in decarbonizing sectors such as heavy industry and shipping, Simson said it could also be used as a storage solution for renewable energy and would be increasingly important as the world move towards net zero.
“We now have a common commitment in the EU and the UAE to become climate neutral by 2050. I am very interested in seeing the concrete plans to implement this ambitious agenda, and I hope this serves as inspiration for those countries in the region who don’t yet have net zero as a target,” he said.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr