Neom achieves financial close for USD 8.4 bn hydrogen project

Good morning, wonderful people. After the deluge of news yesterday, we have a brisk read for you this morning with some key updates on projects happening in the region.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- KSA’s Neom Green Hydrogen Company has achieved financial close with 23 local, regional and international banks and financial institutions for its USD 8.4 bn green hydrogen facility.

^^ We have the details on this story and more in the news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY- The Energy Storage Forum is kicking off today in Dubai and will run until Thursday. The theme for this year's forum is “the current transition towards clean energy sources in the GCC countries leading up to COP28,” and will see discussions on trends, policies, and technologies related to renewable energy, hydrogen, and battery storage, Wam reports. The event will bring together regional industry leaders and researchers as well as officials from the GCC’s electricity and water authorities.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Seven US states reach historic consensus on water cuts to prevent the Colorado River from drying up: US states Arizona, Nevada, and California — all of which source water supplies from the drought-stricken Colorado River — have reached a landmark agreement with the Biden Administration to voluntarily push down their water consumption from the lower Colorado Basin in exchange for USD 1.2 bn in federal funding. The agreement will see the states slash water consumption by 13% — some 3.7 bn cubic meters — through to 2026. Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Wyoming, which also rely on the waterway, agreed to the plan. The agreement, which comes after months of negotiations to secure the water reservoirs of the river on which 40 mn people are dependant, will temporarily stave off the prospect of the Biden Administration imposing unilateral cuts for Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Arizona after the river’s two main reservoirs — Lakes Mead and Powell — dropped to alarming lows last summer.

The story got widespread coverage in the international press yesterday: Washington Post | Reuters | Associated Press | CNN | CNBC | The Guardian | France 24.

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WATCH THIS SPACE #1- UK + GCC to continue talks on potential trade agreement that includes renewables: The UK’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch will be in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE this week as part of a five-day tour where she will discuss a potential trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Reuters reported. “The GCC represents an enormous opportunity for UK firms, whether it's selling brilliant British food and drink products into new markets or offering new consumers for our flourishing digital trade and renewable energy sectors,” Badenoch said before her visit. This will be the fourth round of negotiations on the trade agreement between the UK and the GCC, which kicked off last year.

REMEMBER- The UK has some partnerships with the GCC: Oman’s state-owned green hydrogen company Hydrom signed binding term sheet agreements with companies from the UK. Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) — a subsidiary of Saudi solar PV developer Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services — opened its first office in the UK in March. Emirati waste management company Bee’ah signed an MoU with UK-based waste-to-energy focused tech company Chinook Sciences in January, and Masdar acquired UK-based battery energy storage system (BESS) outfit Arlington Energy last October.

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WATCH THIS SPACE #2- France’s Alstom to roll out hydrogen-powered train in KSA: French rail giant Alstom is looking to bring its hydrogen-powered Coradia iLint train to Saudi Arabia before the end of 2023, the company’s Managing Director for the GCC Tamer Salama told Zawya. The financials and timeline for the train’s debut have not been disclosed. The increase in hydrogen projects in the region could also see the company deploy more of its hydrogen trains in neighboring countries, Salama added. “There is a green hydrogen project underway in the UAE and another in Neom. Oman and Qatar are also exploring hydrogen projects, so it will likely be available in most countries very soon,” he said. The Coradia can cover upwards of 1k kilometers without refueling, Alstom notes. Given the train’s commercial success in Germany since its introduction in 2018, Alstom will kick off operations for its hydrogen trains in Italy, France, and Denmark soon, Salama says.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- EU Parliament puts the brakes on renewables vote: EU policymakers have decided to postpone a vote on raising the share of renewables in the EU’s energy mix from the current 32% to 42.5% by 2030 to June, Reuters reports, citing an internal email. The final vote was set to take place in July, but could now be pushed to September. The vote delay comes after objections from France over the law discriminating against hydrogen produced from nuclear energy. If signed, the agreement will leave room for EU member states to expand their individual renewables capacity to 45%.

REMEMBER- The 27 EU members signed the provisional agreement in April, which also includes a breakdown of the targets for different sectors, such as 29% renewables for the transport sector and 42% for the industrial sector by 2030.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Germany will host the second meeting of the COP27 Transitional Committee from Thursday, 25 May to Saturday, 27 May in Bonn. The meeting will build on the loss and damage fund established during COP27 with the aim of establishing institutional mechanisms and governance structures for financing, and will bring together a host of international financial institutions to discuss pathways to increasing funding capacity for climate vulnerable countries.

The UAE will host the Electric Vehicle Innovation Summit from Monday, 29 May to Wednesday, 31 May in Abu Dhabi. The conference will bring together state representatives, industry players from the EV sector, as well as engineers and researchers to discuss policy trends and tech innovations in the industry and provide attendees with networking opportunities across value chains.

Qatar will host the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Forum from Monday, 29 May to Thursday, 31 May in Lusail City. The event aims to spotlight MENA’s CCUS regulations and policies, map out paths and business models that would bring down CCUS project costs, promote regional and international cooperation to advance the international carbon capture sector, and discuss the role CCUS will play in helping Gulf countries meet their net zero targets.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

Neom achieves financial close on mega hydrogen plant: KSA’s Neom Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) has achieved financial close with 23 local, regional, and international banks and financial institutions for its USD 8.4 bn green hydrogen facility, according to a statement. The ambitious project — said to be the world’s largest green hydrogen production facility — will see some USD 6.1 bn provided in non-recourse financing by the banks and investment firms, it said. NGHC is a joint venture between Neom, Acwa Power, and US-based gas supplier Air Products.

Where the money is coming from: The statement did not provide a breakdown of the consortium of financiers, but an earlier statement released by Neom in March said they included First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, BNP Paribas, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Saudi National Bank, KFW, JP Morgan, Korea Development Bank, and Credit Agricole.

And that’s not all: NGHC also concluded a USD 6.7 bn agreement with Air Products for the facility's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), the statement notes. It also secured an exclusive 30-year off-take agreement with the US-based gas supplier for all the green ammonia produced at the plant.

What we know: The mega plant — located at its floating industrial complex Oxagon — will produce up to 600 tons per day of no-carbon hydrogen in the form of green ammonia by the end of 2026, the statement said. It will have the capacity to produce 1.2 mn tons of green ammonia annually. The facility will source its power needs from up to 4 GW of solar and wind energy.

Quite a location: Neom formally launched Oxagon as its integrated net-zero port and logistics hub powered entirely by clean energy. It is set to be home to several industries powered fully by renewables, including sustainable energy, autonomous mobility, water innovation, sustainable food production, health and well-being, technology, and digital manufacturing.

It’s been an eventful month: Neom awarded a USD 2 bn contract for a rail project linking Oxagon to renewable energy-powered The Line city earlier this month. The rail project was awarded to a joint venture of Italy's largest construction company Webuild and Saudi-based leading contractor Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting (Sajco).

The US and allies UAE, South Korea and Japan invest in Romanian nuclear plant: The Export-Import Bank of the US (Exim) alongside the UAE, South Korea, and Japan are looking to extend early stage financial support totaling USD 275 mn to fund the RoPower Nuclear S.A facility in Romania, according to a White House statement. Exim issued a letter of intent to provide USD 99 mn for the small modular reactor (SMR) facility in a bid to accelerate the country’s transition to clean energy and enhance Europe’s energy security, the statement notes. The specific investments the UAE, Japan, and South Korea will be earmarking for the SMR plant were not provided, and it is unclear whether the funds are a loan or grant.

The details: The RoPower plant will entail 6 SMRs producing a total of 462 MW, according to Nuclearelectrica. The project — expected to come online sometime “this decade,” according to the company — will offset some 4 mn tons of CO2 equivalent annually once operational. The facility is jointly owned by Romania’s Nuclearelectrica SA and Nova Power & Gas SRL and will use US nuclear energy technologies firm NuScale Power’s VOYGR-6 tech and US-based engineering firm’s Fluor Corporation’s construction and engineering services. NuScale VOYGR-6 — the first SMR design certified by the US government — is a pressurized water reactor enabling the production of up to 77 MW of clean electricity per SMR.

Where’s the money going? The US funds will be channeled toward securing long lead materials for the plant, completion of the front-end and engineering design (FEED) phase of the project — which follows the completion of conceptual design studies to determine the feasibility of the project and a rough investment ticket for the venture, and provide provision of project experts to accelerate the plant’s launch.

More funding for RoPower in the pipeline: Exim and the US International Development Finance Corporation also issued a letter of interest for potential support to the tune of USD 1 bn and USD 3 bn for project deployment, the statement notes.

The UAE has been showing interest in Romania’s renewables sector: Back in March, state-owned Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) signed an agreement with Nuclearelectrica to collaborate on nuclear energy program development in the two countries, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. Later that month, UAE renewables firm Masdar finalized a binding joint cooperation agreement with Romanian state-owned utilities firm Hidroelectrica to deploy offshore wind energy and floating solar energy projects totalling 2 GW in the country. The agreement was signed by UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis during a high-level bilateral meeting that saw both sides discuss bilateral cooperation in the renewables sector.

Vale secures land and suppliers for green steel hub in Oman: Brazilian mining firm Vale finalized a land reservation agreement with the Port of Duqm Company for three production plants that will source materials essential to Oman’s low-carbon steel making industry, The Times of Oman reports. Vale also signed a separate non-binding agreement with Oman’s Marafiq to provide energy and utility services for the green steel production hub, which will be built in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm. The financials and a timeline on the integral industrial complex’s launch date were not disclosed

What we know: The land Vale has secured -– spanning some 6.7 sqkm in Duqm — will be used to set up three production facilities aimed at securing materials critical to low-carbon steel production including hot briquette iron (HBI) — which is 60% less carbon-intensive than conventional materials when produced using nagas according to Vale, and direct reduced iron, the Oman News Agency noted yesterday. Manufacturing HBI using green hydrogen could bring down emissions to zero, according to research by S&P Global. The raw materials produced in Oman will be also available for export to international markets, according to Times of Oman.

Will renewable energy be involved? Utility provider Marafiq — a joint venture between Oman’s OQ and Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development — will supply the project’s power needs as well as utility services “while promoting the use of clean energy and green hydrogen at the port of Duqm,” according to the news outlet.

Vale has been making moves in Oman: The company signed an agreement in February to repurchase its 30% stake in Vale Oman from Omani state-owned energy investment company OQ. Vale Oman owns and manages an iron ore pelletizing facility with an annual 9 mn ton iron ore pellet production capacity.

And has plans for the UAE and KSA: Vale signed an MoU with Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Development Center back in November to study establishing a USD 1.1 bn iron ore pellet mega hub producing some 4 mn tons of iron ore pellets annually in KSA’s Ras Al-Khair industrial zone, and said it and the UAE’s Emirates Steel Arkan are working a study exploring the feasibility of establishing an iron ore pellet mega hub in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Industrial Zone last October.

A 1Q to forget for Ma’aden: Saudi mining company Ma’aden saw its net income plunge 81% y-o-y in 1Q 2023 to SAR 419.4 mn on the back of higher costs for raw materials and lower commodity prices, according to a disclosure to Tadawul. Its revenues were down 10% y-o-y in the first three months of the year to SAR 8 bn.

Several factors to blame: The fall in the bottomline was fueled by lower average realized sale prices of all products except gold, and cost of sales rising by 28% on the back of a surge in raw material and production operating costs, the disclosure said. Also contributing to the drop in net income was higher general and administrative expenses, exploration and technical service expenses, and higher finance costs due to a rise in SIBOR and LIBOR rates.

But there were offsets: The drop in net income was partially offset by higher sales volumes of all products except mainly primary aluminum and gold, lower selling, marketing and logistics expenses, and a higher income from time deposits on the back of increased investments and deposit rates. Lower non-operating expenses and a lower zakat and income tax expense also helped counterbalance the bottomline during the quarter.

Key highlights during 1Q: Ma’aden sealed during the quarter a 50/50 JV with US mineral development company Ivanhoe Electric Inc. for the exploration of copper, nickel, gold, silver and other electric metals, according to its earnings release (pdf). Framework and support agreements signed with Shareek and the Saudi Investment Ministry will support the company’s Phosphate 3 project, accelerating its completion and pushing fertilizer sales and exports. Ma’aden also said that its Mansourah-Massarah commissioning activities are still on track with an initial production date of 2H 2023. The gold project located in the central region of the country is set to be Ma'aden's largest gold project to date with an average production of 250k ounces per annum of gold.

A positive outlook: “Supply-demand dynamics are more effectively managed, raw material prices are easing and fertilizers and ammonia prices have normalized and are expected to remain in-range for the remainder of the year,” Ma’aden said. The positive outlook on supply and demand and easing raw material prices with a successful delivery of key projects would allow the company to “enhance operational capacity and enable Ma’aden to maintain FY 23 production and capital expenditure guidance.”

The UAE wants to expand collaboration with Malaysia on clean energy: UAE Prime Minister Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed landed in Malaysia on Sunday where he met with counterpart Anwar Ibrahim to discuss exploring partnership opportunities in the clean energy sector, Wam reports. The two leaders want to expand cooperation in the transportation sector, though Wam doesn’t specify whether the projects would entail a focus on low-carbon and net-zero mobility solutions. Both countries also discussed strengthening trade relations through the establishment of bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPAs), according to the news agency. Malaysia will need to double its clean energy transition investments to between USD 375- 415 bn to realize its 2050 carbon neutrality target.

Gravity could be the new tech for generating electricity: Switzerland-based Energy Vault Holdings is close to completing one of the only systems in the world that generates electricity using gravity, company CEO Robert Piconi told Bloomberg last week. The project, built in China’s Rudong, will be completed by September and will be able to deliver up to 25 MW of power for four hours.

How it works: The technology involves using electric motors to lift and lower composite blocks to store and dispatch electrical energy, according to the startup’s website. The potential energy is then converted into electricity for grid-scale applications, allowing for long-duration energy storage.

Why this is important: This form of energy storage could help address a major hurdle facing clean energy transition: Determining a zero-carbon method to keep lights on when winds are calm and the skies are cloudy, Wired writes. Advocates of the gravity energy storage technology say it could help provide an alternative to relying on lithium-ion batteries, which eventually degrade over time. Piconi told Wired in January that the technology could help bring in a system that offers cheap, abundant, and long-lasting energy storage.

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Big Oil owes at least USD 209 bn in annual climate reparations: 21 of the world’s top fossil fuel firms — including Saudi oil giant Aramco, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies — owe at least USD 209 bn in annual financial restitution to communities harmed by their operations, The Guardian writes, referencing a study published in One Earth. The study says that the USD 209 bn price tag is a “conservative estimate,” as it does not take into account the deaths, loss of livelihood, and biodiversity damage caused by big oil operations. Between 2025-2050, oil and gas operations are expected to cause an additional USD 5.4 tn in climate losses in the form of wildfires, droughts, glacier reductions, and sea level rise.

REMEMBER- Oil giants are backtracking on climate targets, and Shell’s board may be ousted for it: The Church of England has jumped aboard the bandwagon of shareholders in Shell who are planning a coordinated vote against reappointing Shell Chairman Andrew Mackenzie over “signals” the board would backtrack on climate commitments. The company’s annual general meeting is set to take place today. Shell CEO Wael Sawan said in March the company’s plans to pare back oil production by 1-2% by 2030 would be “reviewed” in a bid to prioritize the company’s performance and returns.

UAE sees big potential for investments in South Korea: UAE organizations have identified USD 2 bn worth of investments in projects in key sectors in South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday, citing a statement from South Korea’s Finance Ministry. The potential investments come days after a delegation of officials from four UAE-state owned funds visited South Korea last week to explore potential investments in various sectors, including energy and biotechnology. Other fields of interest include communication, agricultural technology, aerospace and “K-Culture,” the ministry was quoted as saying in a joint statement with Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala Investment.

Details are still scant: Both Mubadala and KDB signed a MoU to set up the Korea Sovereign Investment Partnership, which will serve as a mechanism to coordinate the potential investments in the Asian country. The new agreements come months after UAE pledged in January USD 30 bn in South Korea, with hydrogen, solar energy and nuclear power being among the priority areas. The statement did not provide details on which projects and investments are being targeted.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Saudi Arabia’s Mining Minister Bandar Al Khorayef met with China’s Communist Party Secretary for the Ningxia region to discuss expanding partnership in the mining sector. Although China itself is not rich in rare minerals, it still controls 41% of the world’s cobalt and 28% of its lithium — the main ingredients for EV batteries — through the purchase of mines around the world. (Saudi Press Agency)
• The UAE International Investors Council has signed an MoU with the Egyptian-Emirati Business Council to capitalize on potential investments in green projects and recycling. (Wam)
• China’s Sungrow is supplying Saudi Arabia’s 2.66 GW Al Shuaibah solar plant — to be built, owned, and operated by Acwa Power and the sovereign fund’s Badeel — with 2.1 GW inverters. The plant is set to be inaugurated in 2025 and will be the largest in the world. (Statement)

Siemens will sell its share in Windar Renovables to the UK’s Bridgepoint: Siemens Gamesa signed an agreement to sell its 32% stake in Spain-based renewable semiconductor manufacturing firm Windar Renovables — owned by the Daniel Alonso Group — to London-headquartered private investment firm Bridgepoint, Reuters reports. The sale comes as the company pivots to focus on its core business of wind turbine design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance, a company spokesperson for Gamesa parent company Siemens Energy told reporters on Sunday. The price tag of its planned stake sale was not disclosed.

Siemens has been making moves in our neck of the woods: Siemens Energy inked an agreement with UAE-based Brooge Energy back in February to jointly develop a solar energy plant in Abu Dhabi, and earlier that month its subsidiary Siemens Gamesa was in talks with Egypt’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Ministry to explore potential cooperation on green hydrogen and renewable energy projects in the country. Gamesa is a major player in Egypt’s wind energy sector, and is involved in the 500 MW Gulf of Suez wind farm — formerly known as the Ras Gharib wind plant, the 250 MW West Bakr wind farm, and the 220 MW Gabal El Zeit 2 wind project in the Gulf of Suez.

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An EV minerals spree by Ford: US automaker Ford Motor announced several agreements for battery-grade lithium under its plan to push EVs production in next few years, CNBC reports, citing a presentation by the company. The automaker has an ambitious plan to manufacture EVs at a rate of 2 mn annually by 2026. Both Albemarle and Nemaska Lithium will supply Ford with over 100k metric tons and up to 13k tons of lithium hydroxide over a period of five to 11 years, respectively. Other agreements include one with Compass Minerals for battery-grade lithium carbonate, and another with EnergySource Minerals for lithium hydroxide.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Norway is facing backlash from environmentalists for calling on fossil fuel companies to ramp up exploration in the Arctic Barents Sea as part of state plans to auction a record 92 gas and oil blocks in the country’s territorial waters. (CNBC)

UK jewelry brand striking gold in e-waste landfills: UK sustainable fine jewelry brand Lylie is extracting gold from e-waste landfills and transforming it into high-end jewelry, according to an interview in The National with Lylie founder Eliza Walter. Lylie mines gold from unused electronic goods, which, according to estimates, could contain some 7% of the world’s total gold supply. “For one ton of earth mined, you’d get a yield of roughly nine grams of gold, but for every ton of e-waste mined, you’d get around 300 grams of gold,” Walter told the National.

How does it work: Lylie works with e-waste partners in the UK to source the metals from the motherboards of game console controllers and PCs, which are shredded and put through chemical baths to remove harmful toxins and make the metals safe for use. Some 80% of e-waste is not recycled properly and therefore ends up in landfills. It can take up to 17.5 old mobile phones to yield enough gold to make one wedding ring.

Others are following suit: Danish brand Pandora — one of the world’s most famous jewelry makers — has pledged to ensure that the gold and silver used in its pieces is 100% recycled by 2025, and that some of it will be sourced from e-waste. Royal Mint, the UK government’s coin producer, has partnered with Canadian clean tech start-up Excir to build the UK’s first plant dedicated to the safe recovery of metals from e-waste.

E-waste recycling is picking up in the region: Saudi-based recycling company Tadweeer signed a USD 11.36 mn agreement with KSA-based firms Tebrak Trading & Contracting Company and Mounes Mohamed Alshayeb for Civil Construction for the development of e-waste repurposing plants in the kingdom in January and Canadian waste management outfit ERS International is launching Oman’s first e-waste recycling facility in this year.