Africa-focused energy firm Chariot has signed an agreement to develop a green hydrogen project up to 10GW in capacity in Mauritania.

Chariot will carry out a feasibility study to evaluate the possibility of producing green hydrogen from wind and solar resources spread over a 14,400km² area.

"We thank the Government of Mauritania for the opportunity to partner with them on what we believe will be one of Africa’s largest projects of its kind and look forward to providing updates regarding the near-term pre-feasibility study and beyond,” says Adonis Pouroulis, acting CEO of Chariot.

Following the feasibility study, Chariot will look to build a consortium to develop the project—known as Project Nour.

10GW - Potential size of project

In June this year, Chariot—formerly an oil and gas firm—bought renewables developer Africa Energy Management Platform as part of its strategy to transition away from oil and gas exploration and production.

In the same month, the government of Mauritania signed a separate agreement with renewables developer CWP Global to develop the Aman green hydrogen project.

“We have the potential, and desire, to be a world leader in the field of hydrogen production from renewable energy sources,” says Mauritania’s minister of petroleum, mines and energy Abdessalam Ould Mohamed Saleh.

Both projects aim to export green hydrogen to other markets, without specifying where. Europe would likely be the closest major source of demand.

A 2019 IEA special report on Africa found that there was significant potential for green hydrogen production in sub-Saharan Africa.

“This, however, would require levels of capital investment that do not appear to be on the horizon for the moment,” it says, noting that collaborations would be required in order to develop the resources.

Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria have all developed national hydrogen initiatives.

Industry association Hydrogen Europe has raised the possibility of using existing natural gas infrastructure to transport green hydrogen from North Africa to Europe. And the European Commission has committed to cooperate on green hydrogen development with the African Union under the framework of the Africa-Europe Green Energy Initiative.

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Author: Tom Young