Regional suitor no more for Thyssenkrupp Steel: The UAE’s largest steel and building materials company Emirates Steel Arkan is dropping out from an investment in leading German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG’s steel unit, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The news comes a few months after Emirates Steel, which was the unit’s most serious contender, was said to be considering a minority acquisition in the steel unit as part of a business partnership.

What we know: Emirates Steel Arkan has stopped seeking a deal due to worries over the steel unit’s pension liabilities and other hurdles, the sources told Bloomberg. Interest by another suitor, India’s JSB Steel, has also dwindled, they added.

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A push for mangroves in Saudi Arabia: Red Sea Global (RSG), a global multi-project developer fully owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund, has opened its first dedicated mangrove nursery and plans to plant 50 mn mangrove trees by 2030, according to a statement released last week. The project is in line with the Saudi Green Initiative and RSG’s plan to deliver 30% net conservation benefit to the Saudi Red Sea coast by 2040.

REMEMBER- Mangroves produce oxygen, protect beaches from erosion, are important for the reproduction of several kinds of fish, and sequester many times more CO2 than most other types of trees.

Mangroves are becoming a regional trend: UAE-based business conglomerate Essa Al Ghurair inked an agreement in April with the UAE’s Climate Change and Environment Ministry to plant 500k to 1 mn mangrove tree seeds and seedlings in the next decade. The scheme comes under the UAE’s National Carbon Sequestration plan in which the country aims to plant 100 mn mangroves by 2030. Qatar also enforced policies last year that have led to a 5k sq km growth in its mangrove swamps.

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Oman kicks off common-use infrastructure scheme for hydrogen: Oman’s hydrogen development entity Hydrom has launched a common-use infrastructure scheme to accelerate the development of the necessary infrastructure for recently signed hydrogen projects, Managing Director Abdulaziz Al Shidhani told The Energy Year in an interview last week. Al Shidhani said Hydrom is working with local players OQ Gas Network, Nama Group for Electricity and Water and other utility companies on the common infrastructure scheme. He said the infrastructure plan is being fast-tracked for the five projects it has already signed in Al Wusta and for another five to six projects targeted for signing for the Dhofar region. He estimated a timeline of six to seven years to construct the common infrastructure.

More blocks to be awarded in early 2024: Hydrom aims to award at least five of the six blocks in the Dhofar region by Q1 2024, Al Shidhani said, adding that the company already launched in June the second round of bidding. The qualification phase has already begun and Hydrom has started receiving registration requests through its auction platform, he added. Collectively, the six offered blocks should produce another 900k tons per year of green hydrogen, he said.

ALSO- Oman is extending investment incentives and benefits to KSA: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed an MoU with Oman’s Investment Authority to increase investments in the sultanate by offering benefits and incentives for PIF and its portfolio companies, according to a statement released on Thursday. The agreement further strengthens the recent establishment of the PIF-owned entity Saudi Omani Investment Company which aims to invest up to USD 5 bn in “promising sectors” in Oman. It is unclear whether this includes Oman’s booming renewables and green hydrogen industry.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Oman’s Royal court welcomes EVs: Oman’s Royal Court Affairs has begun using a fleet of EVs in a bid to increase the use of clean energy transportation. (ONA)
• Algeria pushes forward on EV charging deployment: Algeria’s Energy and Mining Minister Mohamed Arkab launched the first batch of EV charging points in Algiers last week as part of wider plans to deploy 1k EV charging stations by the end of 2024. (Statement)