Mar 24 | 2023
Groundwork at Saudi Facility Slated to Begin Later This Year
Middle East-focussed Air Products Qudra has won a contract to build, own and operate a first hydrogen fuelling station at NEOM, Saudi Arabia’s US$500 billion “smart city” on the Red Sea Coast.
The contract was awarded by NEOM’s energy, water and hydrogen division, ENOWA.
APQ, a joint venture between industrial gases producer Air Products and Saudi-based Qudra Energy, said the station would help decarbonize heavy modes of transport at NEOM, including buses and heavy-duty trucks.
Groundwork for the facility is slated to begin in the second half of this year.
“We look forward to contributing our world-leading hydrogen expertise and fuelling technology in support of NEOM’s decarbonization goals,” said Ebubekir Koyuncu, CEO of APQ.“Producing and distributing clean hydrogen energy solutions for use in heavy-duty fuel cell vehicles, as well as industrial applications and energy storage, is part of our DNA.”
NEOM, in northwestern Tabuk Province, is one of several so-called giga projects that Saudi Arabia is developing as part of its Vision 2030 plan to pivot the economy away from oil and gas towards more sustainable, private sector-driven industries.
The 26,500-square-kilometre business and logistics zone will house ports, industrial plants, sports stadiums, green energy facilities and a hi-tech, 170-kilometre-long smart city dubbed The Line. A green hydrogen production facility being built at the sprawling complex is being billed as the world’s largest, with start-up expected in 2025.
The plant, which will deploy some 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce 650 tonnes of green hydrogen per day, is being developed by NEOM Green Hydrogen Company, or NGHC, a joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM.
NEOM and Air Products are members of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network, a worldwide network of shippers involved in the engineering, manufacturing and production of project cargo.
