- Masdar, the UAE’s flagship clean energy company, and its consortium partners, Infinity Power Holding and Hassan Allam Utilities, announced that they have signed a framework agreement with leading Egyptian state-backed organizations on the development of a 2 gigawatt (GW) green hydrogen project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE).
- Africa could capture up to 10% of global green hydrogen market, helping to create up to 3.7 million jobs and adding as much as US$120bn to GDP by 2050, report released at COP27 shows. Read more
The Masdar-led consortium signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in April with Egyptian entities, related to the development of two green hydrogen production plants in the country, one in the SCZONE and the other on the Mediterranean. The consortium is targeting an electrolyzer capacity of 4 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, and an output of up to 480,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year.
Yesterday’s agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in the presence of HE Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Special Envoy for Climate, and Chairman of Masdar, HE Dr Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy and HE Hala Al-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development. HE Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and HE Mariam Al Kaabi, UAE Ambassador to Egypt were also present.
As per the agreement, the consortium will enter into a binding framework agreement with the SCZONE, the Egyptian New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE). The agreement sets out the key terms and conditions for the green hydrogen development program with a focus on the first phase of the program.
In the first phase of the project, the consortium will establish a green hydrogen manufacturing facility in the SCZONE, scheduled to begin operations by 2026. The electrolyzer facilities in the SCZONE and on the Mediterranean could be extended to up to 4 GW by 2030 to produce 2.3 million tonnes of green ammonia for export as well as supply green hydrogen for local industries.
Egypt enjoys abundant solar and wind resources that can allow for the generation of renewable power at a highly competitive cost, a key enabler for green hydrogen production and is located within proximity to markets where demand for green hydrogen is expected to grow the most, providing a robust opportunity for export.
Masdar, Infinity Power and Hassan Allan Utilities last week announced they had signed an agreement to develop a 10 GW onshore wind project in Egypt – one of the largest wind farms in the world. Once completed, the wind farm will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 23.8 million tonnes a year – equivalent to 9 percent of Egypt’s current output
Egypt is targeting renewables to make up 42 percent of its energy mix by 2035, while Egyptian authorities are reportedly working to revise the country’s renewable energy strategy to include green hydrogen.
Africa could capture as much as 10 percent of the global green hydrogen market, helping to create up to 3.7 million jobs and adding as much as US$120 billion to the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report issued jointly by Masdar and its Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) platform at COP27 last week.
Active in more than 40 countries across the world, Masdar is invested in a portfolio of renewable energy assets with a combined value of more than US$20 billion and a total capacity of more than 15 GW. In December, it was announced that Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), Mubadala Investment Company, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will partner under the Masdar brand to create a truly global, clean-energy powerhouse intended to spearhead the drive to net-zero carbon by 2050 while cementing the UAE’s leading role in green hydrogen.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
