The Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly recently announced that China Energy Engineering Corporation, a state-owned Chinese enterprise that is based out of Beijing, will break ground in May on one of Egypt’s first green hydrogen projects.
The move, which is due to the signing of a memorandum of understanding that took place in November last year, will create a development with an investment worth $5.1 billion.
According to the Chinese, this agreement will lead to the development of the project in two phases. Both phases shall constitute a solar park as well as a wind farm, including a facility for electrolyzing water as well as synthesising ammonia.
As and when both phases are complete, the project will be able to generate 140,000 tonnes of green hydrogen in a year. The plant is expected to export ammonia to European markets, a move that is expected to relieve Egypt’s never-ending foreign exchange shortage.
This announcement was made during a meeting by the Egyptian cabinet, which was attended by Song Hailiang, the state-owned energy enterprises’ chairman.
The Egyptian prime minister welcomed the investment by the Chinese company when it comes to enhancing desalination as well as hydrogen infrastructure and also expressed Egypt’s readiness to give out the incentives that are necessary in order to execute them.
It is well to be noted that since 2009, the state-owned Chinese enterprise has gone on to carry out almost 10 energy projects in Egypt. Apart from this, when we talk of the Middle East, it is already working on a 330-km electrical interconnection with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.