Riyadh’s twin-hued hydrogen drive gains momentum
Green continues to outpace blue as the Kingdom shifts from planning to execution
Saudi Arabia reached milestones for both green and blue hydrogen as 2022 came to a close, with the first commercial shipment of blue ammonia to a South Korean customer and financing agreements signed for the multi-gigawatt Neom green hydrogen plant. Like its chief economic rival the UAE, Saudi Arabia recognised early on in its hydrogen journey the potential to tap longstanding energy supply relationships with South Korea and Japan based on crude oil exports for future hydrogen trade. Government-owned oil company Saudi Aramco beat its Emirati counterpart to deliver its first 40t test cargo of blue ammonia to Japan in September 2020, and in December 2022, the Saudi and Japanese governments sig
Also in this section
5 December 2025
European Commission highlights rapid growth of Chinese production this year, as it retains strict procurement rules in latest European Hydrogen Bank subsidy auction
2 December 2025
Oil major cites deteriorating demand and a planning debacle as it abandons one of UK’s largest blue hydrogen projects
1 December 2025
Project at Emden in northwest Germany due online in 2027, but wider ramp-up of clean hydrogen sector in Germany will require overhaul of government policy, company warns
25 November 2025
The northwest African country’s vision of integrating green power, molecules and steel is alive and kicking, and serves as a reminder of hydrogen’s transformative potential






