With its lower carbon footprint, is green hydrogen the fuel of the future? The Egyptian government seems to think so, and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) appears to agree, as they've signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a national low-carbon hydrogen strategy that could help unlock Egypt's potential for a greener economy.

 

The MoU was signed between the bank of Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, as well as the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, to oversee an assessment of all the possible ways to establish low-carbon hydrogen supply chains, which would take into consideration the supply and demand for green hydrogen in the international market, the potential for hydrogen production in Egypt, and how all the logistics would reasonably play out in terms of investment, storage, conversion, regulation and transportation.

 

The Egyptian government, as well as private entities within Egypt, have steadily become more involved with green hydrogen over the past few years. Orascom Construction PLC recently joined a green hydrogen consortium with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, Scatec and Fertiglone which would see the construction of Egypt's first green hydrogen plant before the start of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh in November 2022. Meanwhile, the Suez Canal Economic Zone granted preliminary approval for a waste-to-hydrogen plant by German developer H2-Industries at the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which is being transformed into a global hub for green ship fuel supply.

 

The EBRD has also signed an agreement to establish a metro line in Alexandria valued at EUR 250 million, and develop a Sector Skills Council to boost Egypt's tourism sector.