Norway, Germany sign €30 mln grant for Egypt's green hydrogen

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Hamburg Sustainability Conference in Germany in the presence of the Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat.

This partnership includes the Norwegian side represented by Terje Pilskog, CEO of Scatec ASA, and Mohamed Amer, deputy CEO of Scatec Egypt, while the German side is represented by Thomas Engelmann and Nima Madah, directors of the PtX Development Fund.

The project will be funded by the grant provided by the PtX Development Fund (PtX Hydrogen Mechanism), which was previously secured by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, amounting to 270 million euros for Egypt and six other countries, namely, Brazil, Georgia, India, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa.

This fund is directed towards industrial projects at various stages along the green hydrogen value chain.

This project aims to boost Egypt’s strategy in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, leading Egypt towards climate neutrality in resource- and energy-intensive industries.

Furthermore, this project will create 1,330 job opportunities and produce 70,000 tons of green ammonia, laying the foundation for a sustainable transformation of the entire industry in Egypt.

This project aligns with Egypt's goals in the future to reduce carbon emissions and encourage the use of renewable and alternative energy sources, including green hydrogen, as part of its National Climate Strategy 2050.

Al-Mashat said that the Egyptian energy sector offers numerous opportunities for developing the green hydrogen sector, enabling Egypt’s national resource to produce substantial amounts of electricity from renewable energy at competitive prices.

Egypt intends to achieve the lowest production cost of green hydrogen globally by 2050, targeting $1.7 per kilogram and aiming to capture eight percent of the global hydrogen market.

She also emphasized cooperation with international partners, including the German government and the European Union, through strategic partnerships in renewable hydrogen, stressing that these partnerships will enable Egypt to export hydrogen.