Egypt will have its first green hydrogen production plant up and running by November 2022, this is according to remarks by Ayman Soliman, the CEO of Egypt’s Sovereign Fund.
The scheduled launch period will coincide with COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which the North African country is hosting.
The plant will be located near the EBIC facilities in the industrial zone located in Ain Sokhna. The facility is being developed by a consortium led by Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec, and includes the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and Fertiglobe.
The facility is to be built on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model, with Scatec having the majority stake in the consortium.
A renewable energy plant with electricity generation capacity of about 100 megawatts is set to be built and will be used to power an electrolyser that produces green hydrogen. The electrolyzer will be supplied by American hydrogen fuel cell systems company, Plug Power Inc.
The green hydrogen produced will be supplied to Fertiglobe-owned Egypt Basic Industries Corporation, which will use it as a supplemental feedstock to produce more than 45 metric tons of green ammonia per year under a long-term purchase contract.
Egypt utilizing location in Green Hydrogen race
Green ammonia is a green fuel that can be used in the maritime and air transport sectors, which are among the most heavy contributors to pollution and carbon emissions. According to the CEO of Egypt’s Sovereign Fund, Ayman Soliman, Egypt is looking to play a leading role in the global transition to a green economy, especially since 18 percent of global trade passes through the Suez Canal.
The project comes within the framework of the Egypt Sovereign Fund’s efforts to support infrastructure development and the green economy is one of its key focuses..
Soliman added that the fund would encourage the private sector to participate in important investment projects in Egypt to help the government direct its investments to sectors that are not attractive to investment.
TAQA Power, a subsidiary of TAQA Arabia, signed a memorandum of understanding with the German company MAN Energy Solutions, regarding a pilot project to produce green hydrogen locally in Egypt to power the tourist buses with clean fuel.
Under the MoU both partners will prepare a feasibility study over the next six months for the use of electrolysis solutions in hydrogen fuel plants.
The expected production of green hydrogen in Egypt comes amid the growing international demand for alternative fuels as key countries move away from a reliance on fossil fuels in order to mitigate the environmental impact and combat climate change.
