Japan’s Marubeni Corp. has agreed to study clean hydrogen production in Saudi Arabia together with the Kingdom’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF). Saudi Arabia, a leading oil-producing nation and a key player in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is looking to add other types of energy sources, including cleaner fuels and renewables, to diversify its economy. According to Reuters, Marubeni and PIF, central to the Kingdom's goal to cut reliance on oil, agreed to conduct a feasibility study for producing clean hydrogen for both domestic and international markets. In early February, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued the first industrial operating license for NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) - an equal joint venture between NEOM, ACWA Power and Air Products. This step came as part of NEOM’s efforts and its ambitious vision to develop innovative sustainable solutions to address key global challenges, the foremost of which is climate change. When complete, NGHC will be the largest at-scale green hydrogen production company in the world based in Oxagon, home to advanced and clean industries in NEOM, with a next generation port and fully automated and integrated supply chain and logistics network. It is expected that the NGHC plant will start producing green hydrogen from 100% renewable energy sources in 2026, with production of up to 1.2 million tons of green ammonia annually – a figure equivalent to 600 tons of green hydrogen per day. In other news, Saudi oil giant, Aramco, signed a letter of intent to become a potential minority stakeholder in a new powertrain technology company (PWT), to be established by Geely and Renault Group. The new company will be dedicated to internal combustion and hybrid powertrain technologies.