Letter on hydrogen: Two-tier market
The rapid development of world-leading projects in China and Saudi Arabia points to an emerging east-west divide in the global green hydrogen sector
Saudi Arabian renewables developer ACWA Power has signed up Chinese oil company Sinopec to engineer and build the world’s largest integrated green hydrogen and ammonia project in the port city of Yanbu on the Kingdom’s Red Sea coast. The project, under development by ACWA and German energy firm EnBW, is expected to produce 400,000t/yr of green hydrogen and 2.8mt/yr of green ammonia, with commercial operations scheduled to start in 2030, Sinopec said in late August. ACWA’s doubling down on green ammonia has raised eyebrows. It is already developing the $8.4b NEOM project in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk province, which is nearing completion after a challenging process that has included big cost overru
Also in this section
4 February 2026
Europe’s largest electrolyser manufacturers are losing patience with policymakers as sluggish growth in the green hydrogen sector undermines their decision to expand production capacity
2 February 2026
As a fertiliser feedstock, it is indispensable, but ammonia’s potential as a carbon-free energy carrier is also making it central to global decarbonisation strategies
28 January 2026
The development of hydrogen’s distribution system must speed up if the industry is to stand any chance of grabbing a meaningful slice of the low-carbon energy market
14 January 2026
Continent’s governments must seize the green hydrogen opportunity by refining policies and ramping up the development of supply chains and infrastructure






