By Vatche Kourkejian and Alejandro Longueira

The Middle East is uniquely positioned to become a frontrunner region in the future low carbon hydrogen economy. Investing in the creation and development of a sustainable hydrogen ecosystem can make the Middle East a leading producer of low carbon hydrogen and a major exporter to Europe and North-East Asia.

Nonetheless, several challenges still stand in the way of achieving these ambitions, many of them related to the lack of infrastructure, strategies, and regulations. In this publication we outline the key challenges and identify key enablers to drive the low carbon hydrogen ecosystem forward.

Hydrogen – An opportunity for Middle Eastern Countries

The Middle East is uniquely positioned to become a future export hub of green hydrogen. Not only does it benefits from abundant resources to produce low carbon hydrogen at a large scale, but it is also well located to export hydrogen to major demand centers in Western Europe and North-East Asia.

While there is a lot of interest in the Middle East's potential of becoming a hydrogen powerhouse and despite the high number of hydrogen projects announced in the region, a comprehensive strategy has not been announced yet, even though most countries are in the midst of defining their strategies.

Key challenges need to be addressed to enable the development of the future hydrogen economy

If well informed national strategies are set and executed, the Middle East can see a boom in large-scale hydrogen projects, an expansion of hydrogen valleys, and a decline in production costs. It can further become a leader in advanced R&D activities and hydrogen innovations, and in setting international best practices and standards.