Saudi Arabia’s state-owned petroleum and natural gas giant, Saudi Aramco, has revealed its plans to build a new green hydrogen and ammonia unit in Saudi Arabia. The company will be collaborating with the Hong Kong-based green hydrogen producer Intercontinental Energy and the Saudi’s conglomerate company Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group on this project. Further details regarding the location and capacity of the unit have not been revealed.

The project forms a part of the company’s pledge to realize net-zero scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions across all its operations by 2050. Saudi Aramco has been inclining its efforts towards, the adoption of sustainable solutions to lower down harmful emissions, the development of non-metallic building materials and the exploitation of digital technologies for oil and gas application.

Aramco’s plan complies with Saudi Arabia’s target to foray into blue and green hydrogen production in the coming years. Neom will house Saudi’s first green hydrogen project of 0.24 mn t/yr capacity which is scheduled to commence in 2025. Another green hydrogen project with 2.9 mn t/yr capacity and a blue hydrogen unit with 4 mn t/yr capacity are under pipeline and are anticipated to get completed by 2035.

Hydrogen is considered to be a clean fuel owing to its property of releasing zero carbon emission on combustion. When produced from fossil fuels in conjunction with carbon-capturing technology, the hydrogen produced is termed as ‘blue hydrogen’. ‘Green hydrogen’ is the name given to the hydrogen produced from the water-splitting reaction in an electrolyzer powered by renewable energy sources like solar energy and wind energy.

As per ChemAnalyst, sustainable energies and products are becoming increasingly popular in many regions of the world following the recognition of their potential to drive away harmful emissions from the planet. The favourable government policies towards green energy production and consumption are expected to propel the demand for hydrogen in the coming years. With the commencement of the green hydrogen and ammonia unit, Aramco will establish a high-ranking position in the global green energy sector. The green energy capacity addition will aid in stabilizing the green hydrogen and ammonia supplies in the country and contribute to reducing the green ammonia and hydrogen prices.