Norwegian renewable energy producer Scatec has on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a green hydrogen and ammonia in Egypt.
Scatec has signed the agreement with the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), Egyptian Electricity Transmission (EETC), and New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) to jointly the large-scale facility project.
“This is the first large-scale project for production of green ammonia in the country, which also includes the participation of the Government of Egypt and is a demonstration of the country’s pledge to maximise low carbon and green energy production. Egypt will host the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, in Sharm Elsheikh later this year.” Scatec said in a statement.
Coinciding with Egypt’s hosting of COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference later this year, the facility will cost up to $5 billion and will be built in two phases, according to Egyptian Cabinet spokesperson Nader Saad.
According to the agreement, Scatec is set to build, and operate the facility with a production capacity of one million tonnes annually, and with a potential for an expansion to three million tonnes annually, Saad added in a statement.
The green hydrogen and ammonia facility will be located in the SCZONE in Ain Sokhna Industrial Zone and will be powered by renewable energy plants to be built in close proximity on an area of land allocated by NREA, Scatec statement added.
The agreement was signed by Yehia Zaki, chairman of SCZONE; Ayman Soliman, chief executive of TSFE; Sabah Mashali, chairperson of EETC; Mohammed El Khayat, chairman of NREA, and Raymond Carlsen, Scatec’s chief executive.
In a ceremony held in Cairo, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed, and Hilde Klemetsdal, Norway’s Ambassador to Egypt, have witnessed the signing.
Green hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel made by electrolysis through the usage of renewable power from wind and solar to split water into hydrogen and oxygen without burning fossils.
Egypt has been studying using green hydrogen as a cleaner energy source to integrate into its energy mix by 2035.
