Acwa Power, a Saudi Arabian energy business, intends to build up to three additional green hydrogen reactors on a par with its enormous Neom project.

According to Acwa’s chief executive officer Paddy Padmanathan, the company has ambitions to build two further projects close to a $8.5 billion green hydrogen plant at Neom, a $500 billion new city on Saudi Arabia’s northwest coast. The same group behind the Neom Green Hydrogen Corporation, which also comprises US-based Air Products & Chemicals and Neom, would presumably be responsible for developing future green hydrogen initiatives.

As developers gain expertise, technology advances, and a local supply chain grows, the next plants will probably be less expensive than the initial one at Neom.

Costs for the first plant have increased significantly from earlier projections of $5 billion, largely because of inflation driving up the cost of electrolyzers, wind turbines, and solar panels. On Wednesday, Acwa sealed funding contracts for the initial Neom project. It is among the first facilities of this size to be built, and the 600 tonnes of hydrogen produced each day are anticipated to be exported as ammonia.