The first green hydrogen plant in Africa has gone live. Norwegian company, Scatec teamed up with Egyptian flagship Orascom Construction, as well as Fertiglobe, an ammonia producer jointly owned by OCI N.V. and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). to inaugurate the plant.
The construction of facility which is located in the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Egypt began in 2021. The project targets a 100 MW electrolysis capacity powered by 260 MW of solar and wind energy. This electrolyser will be able to generate 15,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. This product will be used as a feedstock for the production of at least 90,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year. The processing will be carried out in two existing Fertiglobe ammonia plants in Ain Sokhna.
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Gas emissions reduction
Green ammonia is expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from nitrogen fertilisers. Maritime freight is another outlet, as ammonia can be used to store hydrogen. And this avenue is being seriously explored by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which in 2018 adopted a strategy to halve GHG emissions from shipping by 2050.
The team formed a consortium led by independent power producer (IPP) Scatec and are in the final stages of coming up with engineering and technology choices for the large-scale plant. Scatec announced that final investment decision on the facility will be reached in next year.
“In order to ensure affordable, accessible and sustainable energy security for future generations, there is a need to accelerate the shift to renewable energy and low carbon fuels. Green hydrogen, which is produced from water using renewable energy sources, can play an important role in decarbonising hard-to-mitigate sectors such as heavy industry and global shipping,” argues Scatec.