2023-04-17 18:05:45
With two major green hydrogen production projects, Mauritania is now seen as the most attractive country on the continent for investors looking for clean energy resources. Over the coming decades, the country is expected to play a leading role on the global map of the green hydrogen economy.
“Developing Mauritania’s enormous renewable energy potential can both improve access to affordable energy in our country and enable the conversion of clean energy into green hydrogen.”
On June 22, the President of the Republic of Mauritania, Mohammed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, openly announced his country’s ambitions in terms of accelerating the fight once morest global warming in the West African sub-region, with in particular the development of an integrated local green hydrogen industry.
Three months later, a consortium made up of the British company Chariot Limited and Total Eren announced the launch of feasibility studies to co-develop the Nour project for the large-scale production of green hydrogen in Mauritania.
Last March, it was the turn of a consortium led by the German group Conjuncta, which also announced its intention to invest 32 billion euros in a green hydrogen project in the country. The initiative was launched through the signing of an agreement with Mauritania, the Emirati energy group Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and the Egyptian energy supplier Infinity.
“The drop in production costs combined with this unparalleled energy potential makes Mauritania a popular destination for investors for renewable energies. In this context, Mauritania is adopting a pioneering position in the field of the fuels of the future with hydrogen green”, explains Baudoin de Petiville, economic intelligence consultant at Sésame.
8 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year
According to the United Nations Renewable Energy Agency, Mauritania’s green energy production potential amounts to some 4,000 gigawatts, but not only. Mauritania, as the Investment Promotion Agency puts it, “is one of the countries most predisposed to the production of green hydrogen, thanks to a significant potential in solar energy estimated, according to the latest available statistics, between 2000 and 2300 kWh per square meter per year throughout the national territory”.
The project facility will be located northeast of the Mauritanian capital, Noualchott. When it will be operational in 2028, this mega-factory will be able to produce 8 million tonnes of green hydrogen each year, but also various products made from hydrogen. Its maximum electrolysis capacity will be 10 GW.
“This Mauritanian project will be closely linked to Germany, because this European country will be both its customer and its technology supplier”, explains Stefan Liebing, CEO of Conjuncta.
However, such an ambitious project will have to find solutions to several challenges, in particular the expensive transport of hydrogen. The local transformation of the latter will make it possible, in the medium term, to accelerate the development of national industries and to generate tax revenues and foreign currencies.
For Baudoin de Petiville, “Mauritania’s mixed energy potential has few equivalents on a global scale. With possibly 457.9 GW of solar energy, 47 GW of wind energy and the desire to become a gas hub , Mauritania appears to be a credible candidate to become the new energy flagship of West Africa. The region is increasingly emerging as a key player in meeting global energy demand”.
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