Cairo has racked up more than 20 memoranda of understanding with ‘major companies’, says PM

“Major companies” are poised to invest $83bn in green hydrogen projects in Egypt that could produce millions of tonnes of renewable ammonia and e-methane annually, according to the Cairo government.

At a green hydrogen roundtable hosted by Egypt’s prime minister Mostafa Madbouly in the city of New Alamein yesterday (Wednesday), he said that the country has now racked up more than 20 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with major companies hoping to exploit the country’s abundant wind and solar resources to make green hydrogen.

The $83bn project pipeline would yield up to 15 million tonnes per year of green ammonia and e-methane, the government added.

The government has already signed eight framework agreements with would-be producers and granted “golden licenses” to two renewable H₂ projects — one of which is a gigawatt-scale scheme in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) worth $5.5bn — granting permitting and operating rights in one regulatory approval.

But so far, few of the MOUs or framework agreements appear to have firmed up into solid projects, despite the fact that Egypt recently outlined plans to offer tax credits of up to 55% on green hydrogen schemes in the country — providing they secure 70% of the project financing from overseas.

Egypt has this week also brought forward its renewable energy target by five years, as part of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement. The country will now target 42% of energy demand from renewables by 2030, rather than 2035, which could galvanise renewable energy producers and build a supply chain for renewables-based H₂ projects.

Cairo has designated an area around the Suez Canal, close to where some of Egypt’s best renewable resources are located, as a free-trade zone in which it hopes to proliferate green hydrogen projects that can use the canal to export H₂ and its derivatives to Europe.

Pointing out that 15% of global maritime trade passes through the Suez Canal, presenting an opportunity to develop hydrogen-based vessel refuelling infrastructure, Madbouly also claimed that producers would find significant demand among the country’s “energy-intensive” industries.

The government is considering introducing a Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfD) scheme alongside a suite of other demand-side measures, in an effort to drive domestic enthusiasm for green hydrogen

Source:HydrogenInsight