Construction is finished at the NEOM Green Hydrogen Company plant at Oxagon in Saudi Arabia, with commissioning under way and up to 600 tonnes a day of hydrogen due from the end of 2026.
ACWA Power and its partners have completed construction of the $8.5 billion green hydrogen plant at Oxagon in Saudi Arabia, with the facility now in commissioning. Chief executive Samir Serhan told analysts and investors on an earnings call that commercial operations are set to begin next year.
The project is run by NEOM Green Hydrogen Company, an equal joint venture between ACWA Power, the US industrial gases group Air Products and NEOM. It is the largest green hydrogen scheme built anywhere to date, and the first at gigawatt scale to reach mechanical completion.
The plant integrates up to 4 GW of solar and wind generation to power its electrolysers. At full output it is designed to produce up to 600 tonnes a day of carbon-free hydrogen from the end of 2026. The hydrogen is converted to ammonia for shipping, since ammonia is far easier to move and store over long distances than hydrogen itself.
First ammonia product availability is expected in 2027. Air Products holds an exclusive 30-year offtake agreement for all the green ammonia the facility produces, an arrangement disclosed when the project reached financial close in May 2023.
Financing set the template
That financial close covered a total investment value of $8.4 billion and involved 23 local, regional and international banks and investment firms. The non-recourse structure was certified by S&P Global as adhering to green loan principles, making it one of the largest project financings arranged under that framework. Air Products was appointed engineering, procurement and construction contractor and system integrator under agreements worth $6.7 billion.
The single long-term offtake contract is what made the debt work. Most green hydrogen developers have struggled to reach final investment decision precisely because they cannot secure buyers on those terms, and Europe’s electrolyser factories are running well below capacity as a result.
What it means for industrial buyers
Green ammonia from Oxagon is aimed at transport and industrial users globally. Ammonia is already a bulk commodity in fertiliser production, which gives the output an existing market rather than one that has to be created. It is also under consideration as a marine fuel and as a hydrogen carrier for steel and chemicals.
Delivery risk now shifts from construction to commissioning and ramp-up. Electrolyser plants of this size have no operating precedent, and the interaction between variable renewable supply and continuous ammonia synthesis is the part that has not been demonstrated at scale.
For heavy industry buyers watching hydrogen prices, the relevant number will be the landed cost of NEOM ammonia in Europe and Asia once exports start in 2027. That figure, rather than the plant’s capacity, will determine whether gigawatt-scale green hydrogen sets a workable benchmark for the rest of the sector.
