C. Watkins, Gulf Energy Information

At the Dii Desert Energy Leadership Summit in Dubai, optimism met realism as global and regional leaders charted a pragmatic course for scaling renewables and hydrogen.

In her keynote, Ivana Jemelkova, CEO of the Hydrogen Council, reported over $110 billion in hydrogen investments and 510 active projects, urging industry to “stay focused and keep building” despite cancellations. The takeaway: hydrogen has moved beyond hype into the era of industrial implementation.

During the “Leading the Way: Project Implementation and Collaboration in MENA’s Energy Landscape” panel, executives including Nadja Håkansson, Member of the Executive Board and COO at thyssenkrupp Uhde, joined peers from Nareva, ENOWA.NEOM, and others to discuss translating megaprojects into results. With NEOM’s pioneering hydrogen hub as a model, panelists stressed regulatory consistency, bankable offtake frameworks, and cross-border infrastructure to accelerate deployment.

Technical innovation took center stage with Siemens Energy’s Alexey Ustinov, who emphasized safety, data-driven validation, and lifecycle service as core principles of sustainable electrolyzer manufacturing. “Market correction is healthy,” he said. “It drives professionalism and predictability.”

A fireside chat with Bosch showcased the company’s quiet but powerful role in hydrogen—fuel-cell trucks already logging millions of kilometers and new plans to supply electrolyzer stacks through a global network of partners. “We go where the market is,” Bosch noted, calling on industry peers to stop waiting for perfect frameworks and instead make the market.

Across all sessions, the message was clear: hydrogen’s future in MENA depends on execution, collaboration, and proven industrial expertise.