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Authorities in Cairo are anxious to get some high-profile green hydrogen (GH2) schemes going as quickly as possible. This means international companies that have signed MoUs with the government to develop schemes are in a race against time to complete a six-step project preparation plan before COP27 opens in November.

Galvanised by the possibilities presented by green hydrogen (GH2), the Cairo authorities have drawn up an extraordinary vision for transforming the Egyptian energy sector and economy in the coming decades. The plans include tens or possibly hundreds of gigawatts of renewable power, barrages of electrolysers, an entirely new export-focused energy infrastructure, plus renewables-powered sea water desalination projects to break the millennia-old dependence on the River Nile. Most of the technology, financing and fully worked-out strategies have yet to be put in place, but the government aims to sign the first commercial deals at the COP27 summit in November. African Energy gives details of this policy in a series of articles

With less than six months to go before COP27 opens at Sharm El Sheikh, a power shift is under way as energy and momentum drain from the United Kingdom’s presidency and build in Egypt’s camp. The early signs are that the next event will have a very different tone and character from COP26 in Glasgow, with considerably less emphasis on making big policy claims that may be hard to keep and a focus on getting climate-related business deals signed.

Total Eren and Cairo-based Enara Capital’s agreement to develop a green ammonia plant in the Suez Canal Development Zone (SCZone) is the sixth Egyptian green hydrogen (GH2) project to be agreed in the past three months. With Masdar, EDF, Amea Power, Maersk and Scatec already pursuing schemes, the pace at which these deals are being put in place demonstrates Egypt’s determination to establish a leading position in GH2 exploitation – and to make this part of a broader energy hub strategy.

Tensions in implementing an $8.5bn package agreed at COP26 in November to help South Africa decarbonise its power sector illustrate many of the problems around climate change and finance in emerging countries.  

Amea Power’s memorandum of understanding with a strategic group of Egyptian state entities places the UAE-based power developer among a small but growing number of investors contributing to building a green hydrogen hub at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal

Less than three weeks after Norway’s Scatec signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop an export-focused green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has signed an MoU with exactly the same team of key institutions to explore the establishment of large-scale green fuel production in the zone

European powers are lobbying Algeria to provide far more gas and to shift its position in Opec to encourage higher oil output, but production shortfalls and political considerations mean a shift away from its historic alignment with Russia is unlikely. Relations with Europe are made more complex by tensions with regional rival Morocco, but years of underinvestment and poor governance in Algeria’s energy sector mean it is in any case not well placed to respond to calls for higher output, writes Jon Marks

Norway’s Scatec ASA now has a choice of green hydrogen (GH2) projects in Egypt. Just months after signing pioneering agreement with fertilizer producer Fertiglobe, Scatec has signed up for a multi-gigawatt export-driven scheme in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, alongside The Sovereign Fund of Egypt, Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA). Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemical Industries – now run by former Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) chairman Abed Ezz El Regal – is also studying a GH2 and ammonia project.

European leaders are confronting the urgent need to diversify energy supplies away from Russia, while also somehow keeping to their commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, that they made – indeed pioneered – at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, just four months ago.  African Energy examines the options and projects under discussion including gas and electricity imports and hydrogen prospects.

Thanks to a combination of high solar radiation and superlative wind resources, the massive, largely desert zone along north-west Africa’s Atlantic coast has become a focus for huge projects in what is starting to look like a new scramble for Africa. Recent developments include Chariot and Total Eren positioning themselves to take advantage of the emerging business opportunity in the production of green hydrogen in Morocco and Mauritania. This follows close on the footsteps of CWP Global and Xlinks. Others such as Harmattan Energy are looking at the disputed Western Sahara (under a UN mandate). As the number of prospective schemes grows, so too will the pressure to secure land rights and authorisations – a familiar issue for businesses with long track records in securing upstream and mineral rights across the continent.

The commercial use of thermolysis or pyrolysis to convert organic waste into biofuels, syngas or pure hydrogen is still experimental in Africa, although the underlying technology is relatively well-established elsewhere. Most of the 22 operating biogas power plants recorded in African Energy Live Data use other methods. Early adopters of the technology include the Ford Silverton plant in Pretoria, H2-Industries and Oak Group Holdings in Egypt, Ghana’s Kumasi Technical University and the British Nigerian Pyrogenesys-led consortium. Success for any one of them will open wide new commercial opportunities, while also helping to address pressing environmental concerns.

Germany and US-based experimental energy storage and trading company H2-Industries has obtained preliminary approval from Egypt’s General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone to develop an unprecedentedly large $3bn waste-to-hydrogen plant in East Port Said using thermolyzing technology. The project also includes a substantial power generation component. African Energy’s John Hamilton spoke to H2-I executive chairman Michael Stusch to obtain details of capacities, financing, expected pricing, and the next steps.

Chemicals giant Sasol said on 6 October it will lead a feasibility study for the Boegoebaai green hydrogen project. Sasol signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Northern Cape Development Agency for the study, which will look at the potential of Boegoebaai, in the Namakwa Special Economic Zone, to become an export hub for green hydrogen and ammonia.

Norwegian developer Scatec is partnering with Fertiglobe and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt to develop a green hydrogen plant at Ain Sokhna, in a significant departure from the model pursued by other high-profile schemes. As well as being far smaller, it should be operational before the grander schemes have reached financial close.