EU, Egypt sign bilateral MoU on strategic partnership for renewable hydrogen

The European Union (EU) and Egypt signed on Wednesday a bilateral MoU on a strategic partnership in renewable hydrogen, in a step to boost their long-term cooperation on the clean energy transition, according to EU’s statement read.

The MoU signature follows the joint statement issued by President von der Leyen and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last week at COP27.

This step will help the EU to replace hydrogen produced using natural gas and to increase the direct use of hydrogen as an industry feedstock and energy source, thus lowering emissions.

The statement further added that the MoU will facilitate investment in renewables and boost the decarbonisation process in Egypt.

Noteworthy that the EU and Egypt are both committed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on temperature rise within reach.

The agreement will support the EU’s ambition of reaching 20 million tons of renewable hydrogen consumption in 2030, as outlined in the REPowerEU plan, and therefore help reduce dependency on Russian fossil fuels.

The executive vice president Timmermans and commissioner Simson, signed the agreement with Egypt’s Minister for Petroleum Tarek El Molla and Minister for Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker El Markabi.

Last week, the EU also signed an MoU with Namibia, strengthening the partnership on green hydrogen and critical raw materials value chains.