Middle East & Africa E-Fuels Market Outlook, 2029

The e-fuel market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is a thriving area of the energy industry, focussing on delivering sustainable and alternative fuels, notably synthetic fuels created from renewable energy sources. Middle Eastern countries, particularly Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, are among the world's top oil producers. However, rising global environmental concerns, combined with mounting pressure to diversify economies, have driven these countries to invest in cleaner energy sources. Countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia have made substantial steps to reduce their reliance on oil by investing in renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydrogen.

South Africa and Morocco have emerged as leaders in renewable energy adoption, which has indirectly aided the investigation of e-fuels as a viable alternative for a variety of industries, particularly transportation and industry.The epidemic has expedited the transition to sustainability, with several governments reviewing their long-term energy strategy. Governments and businesses began to emphasise the need for cleaner, more resilient energy networks in order to mitigate future hazards.

This has rekindled interest in e-fuels as part of post-pandemic recovery efforts, as well as the goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions. In the Middle East, governmental plans such as Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the UAE's Energy Strategy 2050 emphasise the transition to more sustainable energy systems. These frameworks have contributed to a favourable climate for the development of e-fuels.

According to the research report "Middle East & E-Fuel Market Overview, 2029,", the e-fuel market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) market is anticipated to grow at more than 24.98% CAGR from 2024 to 2029. The MEA e-fuel industry is dominated by a combination of global and regional competitors. In the Middle East, large oil firms such as Saudi Aramco and ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) are investing substantially in hydrogen and synthetic fuel technology as part of their overall diversification efforts. These companies are partnering with multinational technology providers and energy companies to fully realise the promise of e-fuels.

Other significant players include the UAE's Mubadala Investment business, which is active in renewable energy projects that could support future e-fuel production, and ACWA Power, a Saudi business recognised for investing in green energy initiatives such as hydrogen. In Africa, Sasol is a major player in the synthetic fuel business. The company is working with multinational companies to produce green hydrogen and e-fuels for both home and export markets. Morocco, with its large renewable energy resources, is also emerging as a green hydrogen manufacturing hub, potentially paving the way for e-fuel growth.

Middle Eastern countries, through large-scale investments in hydrogen and synthetic fuels, are positioning themselves as future clean energy exporters to Europe and Asia. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are expected to become major exporters of green hydrogen and e-fuels in the coming decades.Africa, too, has export potential, notably towards Europe. South Africa, with its existing synthetic fuel sector, and Morocco, with its renewable energy potential, are ideally positioned.

Market Drivers

Growing interest in decarbonisation: The Middle East's industries, particularly the aviation and maritime sectors, are under pressure to reduce carbon emissions. E-fuels provide a feasible alternative for businesses that cannot be easily electrified, such as aviation, shipping, and heavy-duty transportation. The region's strong interest in using e-fuels as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels is consistent with global carbon reduction targets, making e-fuels an essential component of future energy strategy.

Investment in renewable energy projects:The Middle East is emerging as a global hub for renewable energy projects, particularly solar and wind energy. These initiatives are critical for e-fuel production because they take advantage of abundant natural resources such as sunlight and wind. By combining renewable energy with electrolysis, the Middle East can produce green hydrogen, which is required for the synthesis of e-fuels like diesel, petrol, and kerosene. Investments in renewable energy infrastructure directly benefit the e-fuel business by providing a long-term production base.

Market Challenges

Infrastructure Gaps: The Middle East's current fuel infrastructure is geared for oil and gas. Switching to e-fuels will necessitate considerable changes to storage, transportation, and distribution networks. This is a barrier, as the cost of developing additional infrastructure may hinder market adoption. Furthermore, the region's limited hydrogen storage and refuelling infrastructure makes large-scale deployment of e-fuels challenging.

Competition with Other Clean Technologies: E-fuels compete with other sustainable energy technologies, including electric vehicles (EVs) and biofuels. While e-fuels have benefits in industries such as aviation and shipping, they face severe competition from electrification in passenger and light-duty vehicles. The Middle East must strategically deploy e-fuels in areas where electrification is less practicable, while also assuring technological collaboration to avoid competing energy policies.

Market Trends

Increased investment in sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs): The worldwide aviation sector is considering using e-fuels as part of its strategy to fulfil stringent carbon emissions objectives. Governments and private companies in the Middle East are progressively investing in SAFs made from e-fuels to reduce carbon emissions from aviation travel. This tendency is fuelled by both regulatory restrictions and the region's desire to lead the aviation sector in sustainability.

Export Potential for E-Fuels:

The Middle East has the potential to be a major exporter of e-fuels, particularly to Europe, where there is a high demand for clean fuels due to tight emissions rules. Using its renewable energy resources, the region might position itself as a global leader in the export of e-fuels.

In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) e-fuel market, aviation is developing as the dominant end-use industry.

Aviation is emerging as the major end-use sector, owing to the region's strategic focus on decarbonising air transport and harmonising with global sustainability goals. The aviation industry is particularly interested in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) derived from e-fuels due to increased regulatory pressure to minimise carbon emissions on international flights.

Countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia are leading the way in establishing SAFs to fulfil carbon-neutral targets established by organisations such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). As air travel remains the dominant means of transportation in the region, especially for international flights, the need for SAFs is likely to expand dramatically.

Masdar and Saudi Aramco are two of the leading domestic e-fuel companies. Masdar, a prominent renewable energy provider, has made significant investments in hydrogen-based fuels and SAFs, establishing itself as a pioneer in the region's clean fuel programs. Saudi Aramco, with its extensive energy knowledge, is also exploring opportunities to lead the hydrogen economy and e-fuel generation, notably for aviation and industrial uses. In addition, ENOC (Emirates National Oil Company) is actively involved in green fuel projects, which help the region shift to greener energy. In addition to aviation, the maritime sector is exhibiting significant promise due to the region's reliance on shipping.

Transportation is growing as the dominant sector in the Middle East e-fuel market, owing mostly to initiatives to decarbonise the aviation and maritime industries.

The region's strategic location as a worldwide transit centre, complete with large airports and seaports, makes transport a top priority for e-fuel adoption. The aviation sub-sector, in particular, is driving demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), and the shipping industry is also looking into e-fuels as a cleaner alternative to traditional marine fuel. The demand for cleaner fuels to meet international environmental regulations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) carbon reduction targets, has hastened this development.

While the industrial sector is also investigating e-fuels to cut emissions in difficult-to-electrify processes, transportation, particularly aviation and maritime, remains the most crucial driver. This is partly owing to the constraints of electrification in these industries, where batteries are still not viable for long-distance air travel or freight. Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) is one of the most prominent domestic companies. Masdar has made investments in renewable energy initiatives centred on green hydrogen and SAF production, primarily for the aviation sector.

Another significant actor, Saudi Aramco, is investing in hydrogen-based transportation fuels as part of the Vision 2030 plan, which seeks to diversify Saudi Arabia's energy portfolio and cut carbon emissions. ENOC (Emirates National Oil Company) is also expanding its green fuel production operations, focussing on transportation and industrial applications.

In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) e-fuel market, the leading type of e-fuel is e-kerosene (synthetic aviation fuel).

E-kerosene (synthetic aviation fuel) is developing as the primary type of e-fuel, owing primarily to the region's significant emphasis on decarbonising the aviation industry. E-kerosene is especially important since it provides a sustainable alternative to traditional jet fuel, which is critical for lowering carbon emissions in the aviation industry. Given the region's status as a global aviation hub, with major airports in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, there is a strong interest in using Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) such as e-kerosene to meet international emissions standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

With the aviation industry being difficult to electrify, e-kerosene offers a realistic approach for lowering carbon footprints without requiring significant changes to current aircraft equipment.Saudi Aramco and Masdar are two major domestic enterprises with significant investments in e-kerosene production. Saudi Aramco, as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, aims to lead the region's energy transformation by expanding into synthetic fuels, with a particular emphasis on hydrogen-derived fuels like e-kerosene. Masdar, on the other hand, is working on initiatives to produce synthetic fuels from green hydrogen, which can be used to make e-kerosene for aviation uses. Regional airlines, such as Emirates and Etihad Airways, are also interested in using SAFs to accomplish their sustainability goals.

In the Middle East and Africa (MEA) e-fuel market, hydrogen technology (electrolysis) dominates.

The region's large investments in green hydrogen projects have propelled hydrogen technology (electrolysis) to the forefront. Electrolysis, which uses renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, is viewed as the most promising approach for manufacturing e-fuels, particularly in difficult-to-decarbonize industries such as aviation and shipping.

The created hydrogen can then be converted into e-fuels such as e-kerosene or e-methanol, which are crucial for lowering carbon emissions in transportation and industry. Hydrogen technology is popular in the MEA region because to the abundance of renewable energy resources, particularly solar power, which can provide the clean electricity needed for large-scale electrolysis.

Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are at the vanguard of this transition, with significant programs targeted at becoming global leaders in hydrogen production. Saudi Arabia's NEOM project, a $500 billion future city, is creating one of the world's largest green hydrogen plants, which will use electrolysis technology to produce hydrogen for usage in a variety of e-fuels.

Similarly, Masdar in the UAE is heavily investing in hydrogen technology in order to deliver clean hydrogen and related e-fuels to domestic and international markets alike. Fischer-Tropsch and Reverse-Water-Gas-Shift (RWGS) technologies are also being investigated, particularly for creating synthetic hydrocarbons from hydrogen and CO2, but they are still secondary to electrolysis. Fischer-Tropsch is largely being developed to produce synthetic diesel and jet fuel.

Saudi Arabia dominates the Middle East and Africa (MEA) e-fuel system industry thanks to significant expenditures in green hydrogen and synthetic fuel technology.

The country's strategic goal on diversifying its economy away from oil dependence and presenting itself as a global leader in renewable energy is pushing its dominance in the e-fuel sector. Saudi Arabia's tremendous renewable energy potential, notably in solar and wind, makes it ideal for manufacturing green hydrogen by electrolysis, a key component in the production of e-fuels such as e-kerosene, e-diesel, and e-methanol. One of the major projects contributing to Saudi Arabia's dominance in the e-fuel market is the NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, a $5 billion joint venture aimed at large-scale green hydrogen production by electrolysis.

Saudi Aramco, the country's national oil behemoth, is also spending heavily in hydrogen technology and synthetic fuels, bolstering its regional supremacy. The UAE follows closely behind, with substantial programs spearheaded by Masdar and ADNOC focussing on green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels. However, Saudi Arabia's greater project scale and government support, particularly through Vision 2030 and agreements with global energy firms, position it in the forefront of the region's e-fuel sector. Saudi Arabia's capacity to exploit its renewable energy potential and financial resources ensures that it will continue to dominate the Middle East and Africa's e-fuel system market in the coming years.

Considered in this report

• Historic year: 2018
• Base year: 2023
• Estimated year: 2024
• Forecast year: 2029

Aspects covered in this report

• E-fuels market Outlook with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By End-use

• Aviation
• Marine
• Industrial
• Railway
• Automotive
• Others

By Application

• Transportation
• Industrial
• Power Generation
• Others

By Type of E-fuel

• E-kerosene (Synthetic Aviation Fuel)
• E-diesel
• E-gasoline
• E-methanol
• Other Hydrocarbons

By Technology

• Hydrogen technology (Electrolysis)
• Fischer-Tropsch
• Reverse-Water-Gas-Shift (RWGS)

The approach of the report:

This report consists of a combined approach of primary and secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list the companies that are present in it. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual reports of companies, and government-generated reports and databases.

After gathering the data from secondary sources, primary research was conducted by conducting telephone interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this; we have started making primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting them in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us, we can start verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience

This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations, and organizations related to the E-fuels industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing and presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.