Egypt’s Energy Committee at parliament approves deal of green hydrogen with France

CAIRO – 19 December 2022: The Energy and Environment Committee of the House of Representatives approved on Monday a Presidential decree No. 547 of 2022 of the memorandum of understanding regarding strategic technical cooperation between Egypt and France, to develop the green hydrogen sector in Egypt.

The MoU was signed in Cairo on May 30, 2022, according to which France provides a grant not exceeding €500,000 from the French Development Agency (AFD).

A green hydrogen strategy will be launched within the next few weeks, said Engineer Ahmed Mahrous, representative of the Ministry of Electricity, noting that the training and technical support between both countries will be determined later in accordance with the strategy.

He added that the grant is not conditioned.

Hossam Awadallah, head of the Energy and Environment Committee, said that Egypt signed last year the Belgian company, "Demi" an agreement to start special studies for a project to produce green hydrogen and export it from Egypt.

Lawmaker Amira Abu Shakra said that green energy is still under discussion around the globe, and every country seeks to develop a map of green energy, adding: “Egypt, if it started with green energy, would have a percentage of 5 to 8% of the global market.”

Last week, Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, confirmed that there are approximately 100,000 megawatts of renewable energy that will be directed to producing green hydrogen over the next 10 years.

Minister Shaker noted that renewable energy will be a source of income for Egypt like oil over the next few years.

Shaker added, in statements to Egypt Today, that the green hydrogen projects that are to be established will provide 44,000 direct and indirect jobs and 220,000 temporary jobs.

He further explained that these projects will also help eliminating 37 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

On December 8, 2022, Egypt signed seven memoranda of understanding (MoU) with local and international companies regarding the start of studies on green hydrogen production projects, according to the Cabinet.

The Minister of Electricity, Mohamed Shaker, stated that the signatures include a number of international and local consortiums and companies, including the Saudi company "Acwa Power" and the "Benchmark" consortium, the Holding Company for Chemical Industries, the Chinese company "China Energy", the German company "DAI", the Indian company OCIOR ENERGY, the VoltaLia-TAQA consortium, and British Petroleum.

In August, the Egyptian government signed seven MoUs with foreign companies specialized in the production of renewable and new energy, to establish industrial complexes for the production of green hydrogen in the industrial zone in Ain Sukhna, with expected investments of more than $30 billion.