Egypt’s General Authority for Investment (GAFI) will commission Polish energy company Hynfra to build a green ammonia plant, local media report.
The plan is to produce ammonia for export to the EU using renewable energy.
Ammonia (NH3) – a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen – has emerged as a cheaper and easier way to ship green hydrogen because it can be liquified at much higher temperatures than pure hydrogen can.
GAFI is betting that European demand for the gas will grow from 7.2 million tonnes of non-green hydrogen in 2023 to 20 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. ‘Green’ hydrogen is produced using renewable energy.
The first phase will require an investment of $1.6bn and will be complete in 2030, when it will begin producing up to 400,000 tonnes of ammonia a year.
The ultimate aim is to invest $10.6bn and produce 1 million tonnes of green ammonia a year when the facility is complete.
The plant will run on solar and wind energy, with any surplus flowing into Egypt’s national grid.
No information was given on how the project will be financed.
Hynfra aims to build five green ammonia plants to serve markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Over the past two years, it has signed preliminary agreements to build these in Jordan, Mauritania and Ukraine.
Egypt is targeting $60 billion of investment over the coming decades as it attempts to become a global centre for green hydrogen and green ammonia.
Its national hydrogen strategy, released in August, has set a target to capture up to 8% of the global tradeable hydrogen market by 2040. This would increase the country’s GDP by $18bn.
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