On Thursday, New York’s Hyzon Motors, a developer and global supplier of hydrogen fuel cell-powered commercial vehicles, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi industrial conglomerate Modern Group to develop a car assembly plant at NEOM, the $500 billion Saudi giga-project and technology incubator that is funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.
Hyzon hopes to introduce its heavy duty commercial fleet vehicles into the NEOM ecosystem, which would act as a showcase to the wider Kingdom market, as well as the Middle East region.
Hyzon, Modern Group, and NEOM Company will work closely over the next 18 months to finalize plans and specifications for the new facility, which is expected to assemble up to 10,000 vehicles annually. The partners will incorporate a joint venture company, Hyzon Motors Middle East (ME), which will focus on supplying locally-built, Hyzon-branded zero-emission commercial vehicles throughout Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.
According a formal statement on the agreement, several global corporations have committed to investments in excess of $5 billion to produce green hydrogen at NEOM, making it the world’s largest hydrogen production plant, and site of one of the highest concentrations of green hydrogen production and investment in the world. NEOM is aiming to become fully energy sustainable, powering itself with 100 percent renewable energy sources and zero net emissions by the year 2030.
“We see NEOM as one of the world’s most innovative and ambitious global decarbonization developments,” Hyzon CEO and Co-Founder Craig Knight said in a statement on the deal. “Hyzon’s technology is at the forefront of hydrogen-powered vehicles and fuel cell solutions and has been developed over many years. We are proud to be partnering with the Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group to bring emissions-free vehicles to NEOM and the region. Hydrogen is a key fuel to power global heavy duty commercial transport, liberating it from dependence on fossil fuels. This project is showing the way for resource-rich GCC countries to achieve the energy transition, and Hyzon’s partnership with Modern will help to make this a reality.”
“Modern Group is excited at the prospect of teaming with Hyzon to enable NEOM’s goal of a net zero community, and to localize manufacturing of Hyzon’s zero-emission commercial and heavy duty vehicles,” said Abdulaziz F. Al Hamwah, CEO and Co-Founder of Modern Industrial Investment Holding Group. “But this is only the first step. Through our joint venture, Hyzon Motors Middle East, we aim to integrate hydrogen fuel cell commercial vehicles into economies across the region. This partnership is a great step toward making that a reality.”
In February of this year, Hyzon agreed to be acquired by Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is expected to bring the Rochester, New York-based company to the public U.S. market in the second quarter of 2021.
Modern Group, headquartered in Riyadh, holds a diversified portfolio of private held companies in joint venture with publicly listed international companies in sectors including civil explosives, petrochemicals, mining, steel, aluminum, healthcare and renewable energy.
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