RIYADH - In the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, the Ministry signed today eight memoranda of understanding with a number of authorities to implement a number of pilot projects for vehicles and buses that run on hydrogen fuel cells in selected locations and roads in a number of cities in the Kingdom. It includes a project for vehicles, buses, trains and transportation applications with hydrogen fuel cell technology, and a project to produce sustainable jet fuel.

In a statement on this occasion, His Highness the Minister of Energy noted the interest of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - may God protect him - in the energy sector, and his keenness to develop and invest all energy resources that the Kingdom enjoys, explaining that this step comes in conjunction with the preparation of the hydrogen strategy. Which will be part of the integrated energy strategy, which includes targets, roadmap and timetable for achieving them.

His Highness valued the support and backing of His Royal Highness Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, saying: It is an embodiment of the permanent support and assistance of His Highness the Crown Prince to the various energy sectors, as I must note, here, the great leadership role, His Highness is promoting the empowerment of the energy sector, through continuous follow-up and the great support that we receive at all levels, in addition to His Highness’s leadership of the higher committees concerned with the energy sector.

His Highness said, "I cannot fail to commend, also, the cooperation and integration that appeared between the partners in these memoranda, in their various fields. This cooperation and integration represents a real support for our endeavors to achieve the goal set by the "Kingdom 2030" vision to diversify the available energy sources in the Kingdom, to make the Kingdom a pioneer In all energy fields, globally, and has been a global leader in the petroleum industry for more than eighty years.

His Highness the Minister of Energy signed four memoranda of understanding, the first on the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and buses project with Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, which was signed on behalf of the university by the Minister of Education; Chairman of the University Affairs Council, Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh, and the second is a memorandum on the hydrogen fuel cell trains project with the Saudi Railways Company (SAR) signed by His Excellency the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors, Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser; And the third memorandum on a sustainable jet fuel production project with the Saudi Company for Development and Technical Investment "Taqnia", signed by

The Chairman of the Board of Directors, His Highness Prince Dr. Turki bin Saud, and the fourth memorandum of the project of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and buses with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, signed by His Excellency Eng. Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Saadan, CEO of the Authority.

For his part, the Assistant Minister of Energy for Development and Excellence, Eng. Ahmed bin Musa Al-Zahrani, signed three memoranda of understanding, the first on the project of transport applications with hydrogen fuel cell technology with NEOM, signed by the CEO of the company, Eng. Nazmi Al-Nasr; The second is about the hydrogen fuel cell bus project with the Royal Commission for the Holy City of Makkah and the Holy Sites, signed by the CEO of the Commission, Eng. Abdul Rahman bin Farouk Addas; The third is about the hydrogen fuel cell bus applications project with the Red Sea Development Company, which was signed by Ahmed Darwish, chief administrator of the Red Sea Development Company, while the Assistant Minister of Energy for Petroleum and Gas Affairs, Eng. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Brahim, signed a memorandum of understanding for the hydrogen fuel transportation applications project with the Saudi Services Company. The floor, signed by the company's CEO, Raed Hassan Al-Idrissi.

The signed memoranda of understanding stipulate the implementation of transport projects and applications that use hydrogen as fuel through hydrogen fuel cell technology, such as vehicles, buses, trains, as well as marine transport. Yanbu, runway yards at airports, and hydrogen production and refueling stations will be built in some of these areas to supply these projects with hydrogen fuel. The implementation of these projects will be in cooperation between the Ministry of Energy, project sponsors, and many international companies providing technologies for these applications to build a complete concept of applications Hydrogen fuel-based transportation.

The MoUs cover hydrogen applications in the transportation sector, testing the performance of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and buses, efforts to gain commercial and technical expertise, and analysis of lessons learned from experiences using hydrogen as a transportation fuel, to expand the scope of implementation in the future, in addition to raising public awareness of hydrogen applications in the Kingdom. .

The memoranda include the implementation of hydrogen fueling stations with a water electrolyzer, the supply of vehicles and buses that run on hydrogen fuel cells, and the provision of full operating services for hydrogen fueling stations and for vehicles and buses that run on hydrogen fuel cells during the project's operation period.