The UAE is getting its first hydrogen electrolyzer plant: State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) signed a strategic collaboration agreement with UAE’s Strata Manufacturing and Belgium’s John Cockerill Hydrogen aiming to manufacture electrolyzers for local use in the UAE and for export, according to a statement released on Thursday. The construction timeline, production capacity, and financial details of the plant were not disclosed.

We knew this was coming: The UAE’s Industry and Advanced Technology Minister Sultan Al Jaber said that the country intends to build its first hydrogen electrolyzer plant last week, as part of over 30 industrial projects worth over AED 6 bn announced during the Make it in the Emirates Forum.

Why is this important? Electrolyzers are the main and most expensive component in a hydrogen facility as it is the device that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Alkaline and PEM electrolyzers are the most commercially available types, but it’s likely that alkaline designs will have a larger market share than PEM electrolyzers in the short term, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says. It is unclear which technology the new partnership will use.

And it's a cost effective measure: Increases in electrolyzer production volumes globally are expected to reduce costs of electrolyzer technologies, the IEA says. Based on company announcements, the global manufacturing capacity for electrolyzers could reach 65 GW per year by 2030, compared to the 1 GW in play globally by the end of 2022.

REMEMBER- Egypt is getting an electrolyzer plant, too: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development agreed to provide the Fertiglobe-Scatec-OC-SFE ammonia plant with a USD 80 mn loan in November to build a 100 MW electrolyzer facility powered by renewable energy.