The World Future Energy Summit, taking place at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi from 13th-15th January and part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week hosted by Masdar, is set to highlight the pivotal role of green hydrogen in industrial decarbonisation.Against the backdrop of the UK’s ambition to expand low-carbon hydrogen production to 10GW by 2030, the Summit provides a platform for industry leaders, policymakers, and investors from the UAE and UK to explore collaborative solutions.
The Summit will showcase how the UAE’s expertise in renewable energy and large-scale Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) projects can help scale the UK’s green hydrogen market, laying the groundwork for strategic partnerships and cross-border investment.
Leading market analysts insist that the “hurricane of hype” on green hydrogen has now settled into a new phase of market realism during the past two years, prompting the UK to push a more ambitious development agenda with low-carbon hydrogen at the forefront of its energy plans. Increasingly confident statements from leading UK Government figures highlight a transition from stated intent to actual movement on scalable projects and investments.
Sarah Jones, UK’s Minister of State for Industry, recently confirmed this stance. “I am convinced hydrogen must be at the heart of our plans to grow the economy and to become net zero by 2050,” she said. “Already, Government and industry are delivering real projects to kickstart the UK hydrogen economy.”
The UAE is well placed to benefit from, and actively fuel, the growth of the expanding UK green hydrogen industry.”
Dr. Carole Nakhle, the CEO of Crystol Energy and Secretary General of the Arab Energy Club, will speak at the Summit next week. She added, “The UK and the UAE share a long-established strategic relationship that goes far beyond energy, but hydrogen is now a natural extension of that partnership as both countries pursue industrial decarbonisation and long-term growth.
After the initial surge of enthusiasm, the hydrogen market has entered a more sober and disciplined phase, where scale, capital strength, technical expertise, and genuine long-term commitment will determine who succeeds. For that potential to translate into delivery, the UK will need a clear and stable regulatory framework that gives international partners such as the UAE the confidence to commit capital at scale and over decades.”
In a two-part roundtable discussion last year, the World Future Energy Summit hosted leading figures from both countries’ clean energy companies, industry groups, and financial and governmental bodies. The participants concluded that there is extremely fertile ground for deeper UAE-UK collaboration on green hydrogen development.
With their overlapping interests, ambitions, and areas of expertise, the years 2026-2030 could represent a new phase of UAE-UK collaboration on green hydrogen.
Upscaling green hydrogen in the UK from pilot projects and isolated case studies into industry-wide integration efforts will require massive, sustained funding. The UK Government’s own projections suggest that a further £9 billion (AED44.6 billion) of private sector funding will need to be raised to keep its 2030 ambitions on track, primarily through the 27 hydrogen projects that represent the next stage of the government’s flagship hydrogen programme.
June 2025 saw the UK Government invest a further £500 million of public funds for the specific purpose of developing hydrogen infrastructure, signalling its long-term commitment to building this nascent industry.
This represents an unmissable opportunity for the UAE to solidify its position as a long-term strategic partner in the UK’s green hydrogen development journey. At home, the UAE has already allocated billions of dollars to upscale its production facilities, such as the Ta’ziz Industrial Hub and a gigawatt-scale hub in the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD).
Abroad, its appetite for funding is growing even faster, as last year saw UAE private interests commit £18.5 billion to a new green hydrogen and ammonia project in Dakhla, Morocco, to develop a facility with a 1 million tonnes per year capacity. Private and public investment sources within the UAE are now primed to flow towards the UK as well, if properly encouraged with a suitable combination of clear government signals and a strong list of viable, de-risked projects.
In another Future Energy Insights episode, Cornelius Matthes, CEO of Dii Desert Energy, outlined the reasoning behind the UAE’s increasing eagerness to grow its own domestic capabilities in green hydrogen, with a view to creating an industry that outstrips local demand and taps into the growing global appetite for decarbonisation.
“The UAE has a target of 1.4 million tonnes per year by 2031, but with so many new projects in the pipeline, I’m confident it will exceed that level, even if they don’t all materialise,” he said.
In recognition of its growing role and prominence in the global energy transition, the World Future Energy Summit 2026, which already hosts several leading players in the sector, will once again feature the Green Hydrogen Innovation Hub, a dedicated zone that showcases 20+ startups whose innovations may pave the way to even faster global integration and upscaling.
With sufficient planning and close cooperation, the UAE and UK can put their respective resources, expertise, and investment links to the strongest possible use, ensuring that both nations enjoy the benefits of early adoption of green hydrogen.
The World Future Energy Summit will explore the growing links between these two nations, and their respective regional markets, in the context of a global transition to cleaner energy sources that fuel faster industrial decarbonisation.