The World Future Energy Summit (WFES) will be held between 17 – 19 January 2022 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, the sustainability-focused global platform hosted by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company Masdar. The Summit will host innovations from around the world, as well as international technology pavilions from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, France, Austria, Nigeria, India, Japan, Korea, China.

WFES is a leading business event and following COP26, where global economies are expected to layout plans for decarbonisation, WFES will enable the brightest minds in the business to meet, exchange ideas and showcase new innovations that will support the development of a sustainable future, said the organiser. The event is perfectly timed, especially as the GCC begins to diversify its energy mix and a regional charge on use of renewable energy sources. In the region, more countries have committed to building major infrastructure projects that significantly reduce reliance on fossil fuels, with green hydrogen generation projects emerging as the crown jewel of these efforts.

In Oman, plans are underway to build a $30bn plant that will be a major green hydrogen production facility on completion. The plant is expected to be at full capacity in 2038, powered by 25GW of wind and solar energy. Further north, Saudi Arabia's high-tech coastal city of Neom is the site to an equally proactive effort in the race for green hydrogen production, as Air Products and its partners work to deliver a $7bn renewable energy-powered green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility by 2025. Furthermore, the United States plans to investment an additional $550 billion in clean energy, with China having already issued green bonds with a value of $154.7 billion, as per reports.

In the UAE, Masdar aims to develop with its partners Siemens Energy and Marubeni a green hydrogen demonstrator plant at Masdar City. Masdar's parent company Mubadala, alongside Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and holding company ADQ, also agreed earlier this year to form a hydrogen alliance to produce green and blue variants of the fuel.

In Dubai, the first solar-driven green hydrogen production facility in the MENA region has already been inaugurated, with a total investment of $11 million. The pilot project will produce 20.5kg/hour of hydrogen at 1.25MWe of peak power, in line with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and epitomising the public-private partnerships widely viewed in the industry as the most efficient way to move forward.

As the centrepiece of WFES 2021, the Energy Expo will host some of biggest names in renewable energy, including Taqa, EDF, Engie and EWEC as exhibitors. The Solar & Clean Energy Forum will host industry leaders as speakers and panellists, including Bruce Stedall, Asset Management Director, Transco; Dr Emmanouil Kakaras, Executive Vice President Next Energy Business at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA; Mothana Bahjeat Qteisha, Senior Managing Director, MEA & APAC, Jinko Solar amongst others.

Grant Tuchten, Group Event Director for World Future Energy Summit, said the Energy Expo & Forum will be beneficial for anyone in attendance. “Renewable energy is the central focus of the exhibition” he remarked, “where government officials and decision makers are together with the engineers and scientists who are developing exciting new technologies to facilitate business discussions resulting in beneficial partnerships.”