The production of green hydrogen and its derivatives is of interest to several countries on the continent. In addition to Morocco, there is Egypt, the 2nd African host country of the COP, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Sudan and Chad in North and East Africa, while in the south of the continent, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa stood out. To maintain its lead, Morocco should increase its attractiveness and increase its investments.
The race for the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives is definitely launched in Africa. On the occasion of the COP27, 27th conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is currently taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, we discover that several countries on the continent are very interested in this niche considered to be very buoyant. Indeed, in addition to Morocco, which has been working there since 2018, there is Egypt, the 2nd African country to host the COP, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Sudan and Chad in the North and East. East of Africa, while in the South of the continent, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa stood out.
Several factory constructions announced
Among these countries, only three seem ahead because they have just announced the construction of their first factory. These are Egypt, Mauritania and Morocco. The start of construction work on the Egyptian plant, which will have a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW), was announced with great fanfare on Tuesday, November 8, by President Abdel Fettah Al-Sissi, on the sidelines of the COP27.
This fruit of a partnership between Egypt and the Norwegian Scatec will be carried out in two phases and production should start in 2025. The first quantities of green hydrogen produced by Scatec will enable EBIC, a subsidiary of the German Fertiglobe, to produce annually 45 metric tons of green ammonia. Note that the project was estimated at around $5 billion. Ultimately, the planned investment should enable the production of 1 million tons of green ammonia. Other major projects are also announced in the country.
The Indian ReNew Power will invest 8 billion dollars for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia from the port city of Ain Sokhna. Scatec is also a stakeholder in this project, the investment of which is planned for the period 2022-2029, which will produce 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and 1 million tonnes of green ammonia. That’s not all, other international players are also involved, namely: EDF Renewables, Total Eren, Masdar and Amea Power, Siemens and H2-Industries, Al-Fanar….to invest tens of billions dollars in green hydrogen in egypt.
In Mauritania, the government and British energy company Chariot said last May that they would set up a 10 GW renewable hydrogen production plant, called Project Nour. In the north of the country, there is also the Aman project of the Australian renewable energy developer CWP Global, even more important. This is, in fact, an electrolysis capacity of 30 GW generated by wind and solar energy and a hydrogen production of 1.7 million tonnes per year.
Investments still insufficient
These two countries located in North Africa are serious competitors of Morocco, the first Maghreb country to embark on this niche and which has also announced the construction of its first green hydrogen production plant.
Indeed, the Germans decided at the end of last October to provide support of 38 million euros to the Kingdom for the construction of the said factory. The other good news in the field of hydrogen in Morocco is in particular the strategic agreement signed on the sidelines of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh between two Moroccan and Israeli companies, to produce green hydrogen in the Kingdom. These are GAIA Energy and H2PRO for the transfer, integration and implementation of the most efficient electrolyzers in the world, in order to massively produce green Hydrogen on Moroccan territory.
The overall amounts of these two investments have not been disclosed. But it seems that they are far from those who are advanced in Egypt and Mauritania. In other words, the Kingdom still has enormous efforts to make to attract more investors in the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives and thus keep its lead. The objective is to stay in line with its national strategy in this area, which is to capture 4 to 5% of the world market for green hydrogen and its derivatives by 2030.
Thanks to green hydrogen, Africa might “take off”
According to the document, the African continent’s solar and wind resources might produce 30 to 60 million tonnes of green hydrogen each year by 2050. This corresponds to around 5 to 10% of global demand according to the study ” Africa’s green energy revolution: Hydrogen’s role in unlocking Africa’s untapped renewables” published by Masdar, on the sidelines of COP27.
“If Africa had this productive capacity, it would create 1.9 to 3.7 million jobs and increase its GDP by $60 billion to $120 billion by 2050,” says Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, CEO from Masdar.
The report also reveals that Africa might be one of the most competitive sources of green hydrogen in the world, with a cost of 1.8 to 2.6 dollars per kg in 2030. Thanks to advances in hydrogen production technologies and falling renewable energy costs, this price would then be between 1.2 and 1.6 USD per kg in 2050. The paper estimates that Africa might export 20 to 40 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2050. The remaining 10 to 20 million tonnes would be used to meet the continent’s domestic demand. They would also provide clean and affordable energy to areas lacking resources such as sub-Saharan Africa, which is only 48% electrified.
Aziz Diouf / ECO Inspirations
