Eni inks deal for green hydrogen production in Egypt

Italy’s oil and gas giant Eni announced on Thursday that it had signed an agreement with two Egyptian state-run firms to assess feasibility of projects related to the production of hydrogen and green hydrogen in Egypt.

The agreement was signed with the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to assess the technical and commercial feasibility of projects for the production of hydrogen in Egypt.

According to the company’s statement, the agreement will also see Eni, EEHC, and EGAS conducting a study into joint projects to produce green hydrogen, using electricity generated from renewables, and blue hydrogen, through the storage of CO2 in depleted natural gas fields.

The study is also set to analyze the potential local market consumption of hydrogen and export opportunities. In addition, possible development and business schemes will be evaluated to implement the selected projects, Eni statement added.

“Today’s agreement is part of the path that Eni has undertaken to reach the target of eliminating Scopes 1, 2 and 3 net emissions (Net GHG Lifecycle Emissions) and cancelling out the relative emission intensity (Net Carbon Intensity) by 2050, referring to the entire life cycle of the energy products sold.” Eni statement read.

“It comes in the framework of Egypt’s strategy for energy transition, diversifying energy mix and developing hydrogen projects in cooperation with major international companies.”

Egypt has become one of the main leaders in Africa in renewable energy production.

A few years ago, Egyptian government set a target of producing 42 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035 and 20 percent by 2022.

The North African country is also home to the Benban solar plant, the world’s fourth largest solar power plant, with a total capacity of 1,650 MW.