The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is working to help Egypt assess the potential of green hydrogen supply chains.

The bank’s assessment will include mapping the expected supply and demand of hydrogen internationally, as well as the potential for hydrogen production in Egypt. It will also evaluate the storage, conversion and transportation costs for hydrogen and its derivatives, such as ammonia, in the region.

In addition, the EBRD will help to conduct a regulatory analysis and assessment of the changes needed to support the development of hydrogen supply chains in Egypt while ensuring the safety, reliability, competitiveness and sustainability of supply.

The assessment will feed into Egypt’s hydrogen strategy, which will be published before June and will include plans for a production capacity of 1.4GW by 2030.

1.4GW – Targeted Egyptian production capacity by 2030

“Utilising low-carbon hydrogen is a key step towards mitigating climate change as the country moves to using clean and renewable energy,” says Rania al-Mashat, Egyptian minister of international co-operation.

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD and will host the Cop27 climate conference towards the end of the year.

“We are very proud to contribute to Egypt’s future national low-carbon hydrogen strategy, which is in line with the bank’s commitment to mitigating climate change where it invests,” says Mark Bowman, the EBRD’s vice-president for policy.

Producing and exporting hydrogen at scale from North Africa is unlikely without a wider regional strategy, according to a research note from consultancy Verisk Maplecroft titled Political risk to curb African green hydrogen. Morocco and Mauritania are also developing green hydrogen projects.

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Author: Tom Young