Egypt signs deal to build green hydrogen facility, seeks to establish large desalination plant in Suez Governorate

CAIRO – 14 October 2021: The Sovereign Fund of Egypt signed an agreement with Norwegian Fertiglobe plc, a leading ammonia producer jointly owned by OCI N.V. and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Norway’s Scatec to establish a green hydrogen facility to produce green ammonia, with a capacity of 50-100MW, said Egypt’s Cabinet in a statement on Thursday.

 

The new facility will be established near the Ebic - Egypt Basic Industries Corporation at Ain Sokhna, Suez Governorate. 

 

As per the agreement, Scatec will build and operate the facility to produce green hydrogen with quantities ranging from 50 to 100 megawatts, and then to supply such quantities to the EBIC that is owned by Fertiglobe for producing more than 45 metric tons of green ammonia per year.

 

“We are proud to establish a strong partnership with Fertiglobe and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt to move the green agenda forward in Egypt. The development of this green hydrogen project builds on our long experience in project development, financing, and delivery of renewable energy projects in emerging markets. New business models and innovation have been at the core of Scatec since our inception, and we see green hydrogen as a natural part of our strategy and the renewable ecosystem in the years to come,“ said CEO of Scatec Raymond Carlsen.

 

“Required engineering and development, including structuring of commercial agreements for the new facility, will start imminently with a target investment decision in 2022 and start-up of the hydrogen facility by 2024,” said Scatec in a statement on Thursday.

 

The signing ceremony of the agreement was attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, said the cabinet statement.

 

At a meeting with the CEOs of the companies and Egyptian officials, Madbouli highlighted the importance of cooperation in the field of desalinated water.

 

Madbouli said that Egypt pays more attention to increasing the quantities of desalinated water, especially in light of the water scarcity that Egypt has been suffering from, and the limited freshwater resources. 

 

He added that production has been increased from 80,000 cubic meters to 800,000 cubic meters of desalinated water per day.  The government seeks to increase the production to 3.5 million cubic meters per day over the next five years, and then 6.5 million cubic meters over ten years, the Prime Minister said.

 

Madbouli continued that the state is seeking to establish a large desalination plant in the Suez Canal governorate - in Port Said or Ismailia - with a capacity of 1.4 million cubic meters per day.