EBRD ups stake in Egypt’s Infinity: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is increasing its stake in Egyptian-headquartered renewable energy player Infinity through a USD 41.5 mn investment, the bank said in a statement yesterday. The EBRD did not disclose the size of its stake in Infinity following the investment. The bank had previously become a shareholder after investing USD 60 mn in the company in 2020. Our friends at Infinity declined to comment on the transaction when we spoke yesterday.

Where will the funding go? Primarily toward Infinity’s expansion plans in Egypt and other countries, as well as potential acquisitions, the statement said. An undisclosed portion of the funding will be used for Infinity’s acquisition of African renewables player Lekela Power, which is expected to close in 1Q 2023.

EBRD is a longtime investor in the regional renewables sector — and has stepped up its already-significant commitment to Egypt: The news comes days after the lender committed USD 1.3 bn including “USD 1 bn of private renewable finance, USD 300 mn in sovereign finance and grants of USD 3 mn from its shareholder special fund,” to help Egypt decarbonize its power infrastructure and install new renewable energy capacity. The lender is heading up the energy pillar in Egypt’s newly-launched Nexus on Water, Food and Energy (NWFE).

2 GREEN HYDROGEN FACILITIES

Infinity subsidiary Infinity Power, is building two green hydrogen production plants, one in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone and the other on the Mediterranean, as part of a consortium including Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities and UAE’s Masdar, the company said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The plants will produce up to 480k tons of green hydrogen a year, with the SCZone facility set to be the first to come online in 2026.

The two facilities together have an electrolyzer capacity of 2 GW, with a target to extend it to up to 4 GW by 2030 to produce green ammonia for export, the statement said, adding that it could also supply green hydrogen to local industries.