SUMMARY

The MoU signed has been expanded to encompass the full scope of bilateral cooperation, including hydrogen.

By Shardul Sharma

The UK and UAE governments have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation on energy, including hydrogen, and climate, the UK government said on January 13.

This clean energy MoU replaces the MoU on cooperation in the field of energy between the two nations signed in February 2018. This builds on ADNOC taking a 25% stake in the design stage of BP’s blue hydrogen project, H2Teesside, last year.

“International cooperation on energy and climate with close partners like the UAE is vital and as they take centre stage as hosts of COP28 later this year, they will have our full support every step of the way,” UK’s business and energy secretary Grant Shapps said.

The MoU follows on the heels of the Partnership for the Future (P4F), which was signed during Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to UK in September 2021 and provided a clear statement of collective energy ambitions, the UK government said.

The P4F is complemented by the existing Sovereign Investment Partnership (SIP), agreed in March 2021 to serve as a coordinated investment framework to grow a future-focused relationship between the two nations.