Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has decided to cancel a planned project to build a green hydrogen plant in Abu Dhabi that would have provided up to 100MW of renewable hydrogen to local steelmaker Emsteel for the production of green steel.

Following the submission of bids for the project by contractors last year, Masdar, in the first quarter of this year, requested that contractors extend the validity of their proposals until the end of August, to allow “more time to study and evaluate bids”, one source said.

However, Masdar issued a notification to all bidders on 1 August stating its decision to cancel the project, sources told MEED.

Among the contractors that submitted bids for the Masdar green hydrogen project were:

• Envision (China)
• Larsen & Toubro (India)
• PowerChina (China)
• Samsung E&A (South Korea)
• Sinopec (China)

Masdar did not respond to MEED's request for comment on the information.

In its current steel manufacturing process, Emsteel uses hydrogen produced by steam reforming of natural gas as a reducing gas agent to extract iron from iron ore. The core objective of Masdar’s planned project was to install a 100MW electrolyser at Emsteel’s main manufacturing hub in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi that would provide green hydrogen for future clean steel production.

Masdar initiated work on the green hydrogen plant project in 2024 by awarding a contract for front-end engineering and design to locally based NT Energies, a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s NMDC Energy and France-based Technip Energies.

Masdar then sought proposals last year for engineering, procurement, construction, demolition (if needed for brownfield activities), pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up and two years of operations and maintenance (extendable up to 20 years) at the planned facility.

Contractors submitted bids by the end of the year, according to sources.

The Masdar green hydrogen project involved the production of green hydrogen, with a total installed electrolyser capacity of 100MW, utilising alkaline water electrolysis technology.

The scope of work on the project involved building electrolyser stacks and modules, hydrogen separation and compression units, associated utilities and storage systems, as well as electrical, instrumentation and control systems.

The project scope further included the implementation of tie-in connections to pre-defined interface points, including, but not limited to:

• a grid power supply connection to the MOSF substation in Musaffah that exists within the Emsteel complex and is operated by Taqa Transmission;
• a water supply connection to a nearby Taqa Distribution network. Supporting infrastructure included a substation, a motor control centre and ancillary plant buildings and facilities.

Masdar’s planned project to build the 100MW green hydrogen producing electrolyser at the Emsteel facility would have been a step up from a previous pilot project by the two Abu Dhabi-owned companies.

The partners inaugurated a pilot green hydrogen plant at Emsteel’s manufacturing complex in Musaffah in October 2024, which incorporates a 2.1MW electrolyser and is designed to support the production of up to 5,000 tonnes of green steel a year.

This project made Emsteel the only steelmaker in the Middle East to use green hydrogen to produce green steel on a pilot basis.

“Sustainability is central to Emsteel’s innovation, competitiveness and long-term growth. Today, approximately 89% of our steel business electricity consumption comes from clean sources, and our steel carbon emissions intensity is around 40% lower than the World Steel Association global average,” Michael Rion, chief commercial officer of Emirates Steel – part of Emsteel Group, told MEED in a recent interview.

READ THE AUGUST 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

Saudi Arabia builds for the global stage; Rising uncertainty creates fresh set of challenges in the Maghreb; Gulf banks remain robust in the face of geopolitical tensions.

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the August 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes: