ADNOC and Masdar have signed a joint venture agreement to develop a 2 gigawatt green hydrogen electrolyser programme across the UAE, with the project targeting first commercial output by the fourth quarter of 2028. The venture is backed by sovereign wealth fund participation and is expected to attract international off-take agreements within the next 12 months.
The programme will be structured in phases, with an initial 500MW facility at a site adjacent to existing renewable generation infrastructure in Abu Dhabi. Subsequent phases will expand capacity as offtake volumes are confirmed. Both alkaline and PEM electrolyser technologies are under evaluation, with a final technology selection expected in Q3 2026.
The announcement reflects a broader trend across the GCC, where state-backed energy companies are committing capital to green hydrogen infrastructure ahead of anticipated demand from Europe and East Asia. For the UAE specifically, green hydrogen exports are increasingly viewed as a long-term replacement for a portion of hydrocarbon export revenues.
At a local level, projects of this scale accelerate the availability of domestically produced green hydrogen for distributed and off-grid applications — the foundation of systems such as the GH2S technology that Ultra Energy designs and delivers for farms, villas, and remote properties across the UAE.
