It was a big day for Egypt’s green hydrogen ambitions yesterday as the first phase of Africa’s first integrated green hydrogen plant went into commissioning and AMEA Power set out the details of its 500-MW green hydrogen plant.

IT’S LIGHTS ON FOR OUR FIRST GREEN HYDROGEN PLANT-

Commissioning kicks off at Ain Sokhna green hydrogen plant: Norway’s Scatec, the OCI / Adnoc joint venture Fertiglobe, Orascom Construction, and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) began commissioning of the first phase of their 100 MW green hydrogen plant in Ain Sokhna, they said in a joint statement (pdf) yesterday. The launch came during a COP event attended by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

SOUND SMART- Commissioning is the term contractors use to describe the final stages of pre-launch testing — the plant is done and it’s now going live.

In detail: The plant will be powered by 260 MW of solar and wind energy and will produce around 15k tons of green hydrogen. This will feed Fertiglobe’s two existing ammonia plants in Ain Sokhna, which will produce 90k tons of green ammonia a year. The consortium first unveiled its plans to establish Africa’s first integrated green hydrogen plant in October 2021.

What they said: “As the first green hydrogen project on the ground, the commissioning is symbolic of how COP27 is the conference of action and implementation,” Planning Minister Hala El Said told Enterprise yesterday. “This project represents a practical response to the need to meet rising energy demand with minimum emissions. The first integrated green hydrogen plant in Africa, delivered in record time, shows what can be achieved when we collaborate around a shared ambition,” UAE Minister of Industry and Fertiglobe Chairman Sultan Al Jaber said.

More of this, please: “Orascom Construction created the know-how for the construction, wrap-up and balance-of-plant as the first EPC contractor to be involved in the hydrogen business in Egypt and Africa,” OC CEO Osama Bishai told us after the commissioning yesterday.

Egypt wants to establish itself as a regional hub for green energy: International companies have signed USD 33 bn worth of preliminary agreements for green ammonia and hydrogen projects this year, the most recent of which was with Maersk for a huge USD 15 bn facility capable of producing 3 mn tons of fuel a year.

More green hydrogen talk at COP: The government is expected to make a string of green hydrogen announcements — including the national hydrogen strategy — and sign final agreements with a number of companies during COP’s two-week run. Enterprise Climate has the full rundown on what could be in store.

Uh, Enterprise? What’s green hydrogen? We’ve got the basics for you here in Enterprise Explains.

AL NOWAIS FINALIZING SOKHNA GREEN HYDROGEN PLANT-

Progress on the Al Nowais Sokhna green hydrogen project: Al Nowais subsidiary AMEA Power is finalizing the technical details for a 500-MW green hydrogen plant in Ain Sokhna, CEO Hussain Al Nowais told Bloomberg Asharq in an interview on the sidelines of COP. The plant will have an initial investment cost of USD 800 mn — with AMEA Power covering 70% — and is expected to break ground in the second half of 2023, Al Nowais said. The project will be geared towards export to European and Asian markets, he added.

MORE ON OUR FIRST WASTE-TO-HYDROGEN PLANT-

H2-Industries finds a supplier for its planned USD 3 bn waste-to-hydrogen plant: Local waste management firm Green Planet for Sustainable Environmental Solutions signed an MoU to provide the 4 mn tons of annual waste feedstock to H2-Industries’ planned waste-to-hydrogen plant in East Port Said, according to Zawya.

ICYMI: New York-headquartered energy firm H2-Industries earlier this year signed an MoU with the Suez Canal Economic Zone to establish Egypt’s first waste-to-hydrogen plant. The USD 3 bn facility would produce 300k tons of hydrogen each year, consuming 4 mn tons of municipal solid waste.

More to come on the project this COP? Final agreements for the project could be signed at this year’s COP, H2-Industries’ founder, executive chairman, and CEO Michael Stusch told us back in June, when we sat down with him to discuss plans for the facility in our weekly Going Green vertical.

INTRODUCING HPEC?

Egypt and Belgium launched a global renewable hydrogen forum meant to become a permanent platform for dialogue between hydrogen producers and consumers, the private sector and financing institutions, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi announced during a roundtable yesterday.