Egypt to launch low-carbon hydrogen strategy by 2022-end: minister

Egypt plans to launch its national low-carbon hydrogen strategy set in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) by the end of the year, its minister of electricity said on Saturday.

The North African country already announced the general framework of the strategy at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh city earlier this month.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly that was held to follow up on renewable energy and green hydrogen projects, Minister Mohamed Shaker said that Egypt is capable of producing green hydrogen at the lowest cost worldwide.

Egypt can make use of its competitive capability in this regard to carry out its ambitious plan of contributing 8 percent of the global hydrogen market, Shaker added.

This can boost Egypt’s GDP by $10 billion and $18 billion by 2050, as the hydrogen economy is expected to grow seven-fold, he explained.

Increasing locally-produced hydrogen can also boost Egypt’s energy security and lower reliance on petroleum imports, the minister added.

At UN climate summit COP27, Egypt signed a framework agreement with nine developers for a green hydrogen and derivatives mega-project at the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also launched during the climate conference the first phase of a project to establish a major green hydrogen plant with a capacity to produce 100 megawatt in Egypt’s Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea.

During COP27, Sisi also unveiled a new Egyptian-Belgian green hydrogen initiative which he co-sponsored with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

Egypt plans to become a global hub for producing and exporting green hydrogen, especially to Europe.