OAPEC: Arab countries have a strong presence on the global hydrogen scene

The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) confirmed that the Arab countries are strongly present on the global hydrogen scene and were able to sign in a short time several memoranda of understanding with international partners in the field of hydrogen. the production and exploitation of hydrogen. , in an approach that reflects the real desire to strengthen dialogue and strategic cooperation between Arab countries and foreign countries with which they maintain solid economic ties.

In a working paper on “The challenges of hydrogen transport and storage and how to harness natural gas infrastructure to export hydrogen from Arab countries”, it was prepared by engineer Wael Hamed Abdel Moati, a gas industries expert in the organization, in front of the Middle East Green Hydrogen Conference, currently being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (via visual communication), she explained that this strategic dialogue and cooperation will allow Arab countries to play an important role in the development of the hydrogen economy and gain a good share of this promising market, to add to its leading position in the energy markets a new role as a source of hydrogen in addition to its historic role as a global source of oil and gas supply several decades ago.

OAPEC pointed out that the transition to adopting hydrogen as an energy source in the global future and establishing a value chain for it that is very flexible and easy to use, will take place. still faces several technical and economic challenges that must be overcome by research and development, including hydrogen storage, due to the low value of energy density. It is comparable to other fuels and thus increases the volume required for storage, both at production (and export) sites and in end-use applications such as hydrogen storage in distribution centers, and fuel stations. refueling for fuel cell vehicles.

Regarding the challenges, OAPEC said that the transport and distribution of hydrogen is also a big challenge from an economic point of view due to the high cost of its transport over long distances compared to other types. of fuels, but on the other hand there are several options for the transport and distribution of hydrogen, either by using pipelines or by using trailers and in this case the hydrogen can be transported either to the liquid state, either in gaseous state under high pressure, or transported by tanker trucks after transformation of hydrogen into liquid ammonia for transport to markets far from production areas.

Overcoming the high capital cost of building new hydrogen transmission and distribution networks, OAPEC said it was possible to use current natural gas networks to transport hydrogen after bringing in minor modifications to accommodate the properties of hydrogen, especially as the Arab region has enormous transmission and distribution networks that stretch for thousands of kilometers in most areas. When hydrogen can be mixed with natural gas up to 15 percent by volume with the introduction of some medium modifications to existing gas networks, but in the case of its conversion to transport pure hydrogen (c ‘ i.e. 100 percent hydrogen), this will require modifications at greater costs, but still lower compared to the establishment of new transmission and distribution networks.

OAPEC said the Arab region has four existing pipelines to export gas from Arab countries in North Africa to Europe, which can be used to export a mixture of hydrogen with gas or hydrogen. pure in the future to meet the needs of the European market, which is expected to become a promising market for hydrogen. While ammonia ships will be the viable option to export hydrogen from Arab Gulf countries to distant markets such as Asian markets.

OAPEC pointed out that the number of Arab countries interested in investing in hydrogen production projects has increased to seven, and that the number of planned hydrogen production and use projects has reached 20, the majority of which concerns the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia with a total of 12 projects, while 6 projects are allocated for the production of blue hydrogen and blue ammonia and 2 projects to use hydrogen as fuel in vehicles fuel cell. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have already exported four ammonia test shipments to Asian markets, reflecting Arab leadership in developing the hydrogen economy and its fuels to meet the needs. important world markets such as the Asian market.

OAPEC indicated that its participation in the conference is due to its interest in the issue of hydrogen and foresight of the role it can bring to the energy transition process, and to present the point of view of the organization. on this topic and how to overcome the obstacles to building a hydrogen economy in the Arab region, and to identify the opportunities, plans, technologies and solutions for the storage and transport and export of hydrogen in the Middle-East.