Masdar taps French connections in UAE hydrogen push

State-owned renewables company collaborates with Engie and TotalEnergies as emirates lean towards green hydrogen

Deals signed by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned renewables company Masdar with two French energy firms in late January reflect the twin strands of the emirate’s burgeoning hydrogen ambitions: to find a substitute export commodity for its long-dominant oil and gas sales, and to prepare its non-oil sectors to thrive in a decarbonising world. Masdar’s green hydrogen partnership with French utility Engie has yielded an agreement to work together to produce carbon-free ammonia for export at the Ruwais fertiliser complex of Fertiglobe—a partnership between fertiliser supplier OCI and the UAE’s Adnoc. Separately, French major TotalEnergies’ wide-ranging interests in Abu Dhabi’s energy sector took a fresh t