ADNOC and Masdar join bp’s UK hydrogen projects in new energy partnership

ADNOC, the UAE’s largest energy company, bp and Masdar on Tuesday announced a major strategic new energy partnership, bringing global participation to the British energy giant’s planned blue and green hydrogen developments in Teesside and enabling a low-carbon hydrogen project in Abu Dhabi.

Under the partnership, ADNOC will take a 25% stake in the design stage of bp’s blue hydrogen project, H2Teesside – marking the UAE energy major’s first investment in the UK.

In the UK, ADNOC and bp will now advance to the design phase (pre-FEED) of the H2Teesside low carbon hydrogen project, while Masdar and bp signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore potential collaboration on the HyGreen Teesside green hydrogen project in the UK’s Teesside industrial cluster – which will be powered by offshore wind.

H2Teesside is expected to kickstart the UK’s hydrogen economy at scale with the development of two 500MW hydrogen production units by 2030. The project is targeting start of operations in 2027.

In the UAE, ADNOC and bp moved to conduct a joint feasibility study for a low-carbon hydrogen project in Abu Dhabi, the companies said in separate statements on Tuesday.

ADNOC, bp and Masdar also agreed to explore production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels in the UAE using solar-to-green hydrogen and municipal waste gasification, leveraging the capabilities of the UAE’s Tadweer (Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre) and Etihad Airways, ADNOC said in its statement.

HH Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), witnessed the signing of the partnership between ADNOC, bp and Masdar – which aims to take forward the partnership through the development of clean hydrogen and technology hubs, maximising opportunities of the energy transition.

“ADNOC and Masdar’s deepened partnership with bp is a testament to the UAE and UK’s longstanding track record of bilateral partnership in sustainability as well as the UAE’s intent to play a leading role in the fast-growing clean hydrogen economy both domestically and internationally,” Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, and Masdar Chairman, said in a statement.

“To that end, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with bp in both the UAE and UK, laying the groundwork for deeper commercial partnership in the area of new energies and clean technologies. In the UK, our role in Teesside will represent ADNOC’s first investment into the UK and help to accelerate innovation in decarbonization of energy in industrial sectors,” he said.

The collaboration with bp in Abu Dhabi is expected to further position the UAE as a leader in low-carbon energies and technology-driven industrial growth, Dr Sultan said.

The partnership and the projects together could deliver 15% of the UK Government’s recently expanded 10GW target for hydrogen production in 2030, bp said in its statement.

“ADNOC and Masdar’s involvement reinforce the world-leading role that Teesside and the UK more widely can play in leading the development of low carbon hydrogen for low carbon economies,” Bernard Looney, bp’s Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement.

“From supply chains to skills, Teesside and bp are ready to deliver. Our partnership with ADNOC and Masdar stretches internationally and will be able to help decarbonise some of the most hard-to-abate sectors in the world – like industrial manufacturing, power and aviation – in a sustainable way,” he added.

The H2Teesside will be co-developed within Teesside, a part of the East Coast Cluster on the Eastern coast of the UK, leveraging access to North Sea gas and bp’s existing CCUS capabilities.

End-users of clean hydrogen produced at the planned project are expected to include neighbouring large-scale industrial offtakers, such as chemical processors, fertiliser manufacturers and heat and power generators. Similar use cases as well as mobility demand in Teesside will be explored by bp and Masdar in the area of green hydrogen, setting the stage for robust end-to-end green hydrogen value chains.