More green hydrogen momentum for Egypt: Egypt signed MoUs with seven companies and consortiums to begin conducting feasibility studies on new projects to set up facilities to produce green hydrogen and its derivatives, according to a cabinet statement. The statement does not provide further details on the potential investment size, production capacity, or timeline for any of the projects.

Who’s signing? Saudi renewables player Acwa Power; a consortium of Benchmark and the Holding Company for Chemical Industries; China Energy; Germany’s DAI; India’s Ocior Energy; BP; and a consortium of France’s Voltalia and Egypt’s Taqa Arabia.

There are plenty of familiar names there: French renewables company Voltalia has also been mulling new solar and wind energy investments since last year, while Acwa Power is planning a 1.1 GW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez with our friends at Hassan Allam.

Demand is high for Egypt’s green energy hub projects: The new MoUs come after Egypt signed agreements with 16 other companies and consortiums to establish green hydrogen and green ammonia projects, including nine framework agreements for projects that would, if implemented, bring in USD 83 bn of investments.

MEANWHILE- Australia’s Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) could begin production at its planned USD 10 bn, 9.2 GW green hydrogen plant in Egypt in 2027, with the company currently in talks with the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) for land allocation, FFI’s Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia President Moataz Kandil said, according to local media outlet Al Borsa. The company expects to complete the plant by 2030, Kandil said in a separate interview with Bloomberg Asharq (watch, runtime: 7:53).

REFRESHER- FFI signed an MoU with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), the SCZone, the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company and the country’s New and Renewable Energy Authority to begin conducting feasibility studies on its planned green hydrogen project back in August.

The details: The project comprises a number of renewable energy production stations with a combined 7.6 GW capacity to produce as much as 330 tons of green hydrogen annually by the time the project’s construction is completed, Kandil told Al Borsa. FFI signed a framework agreement with the government to set up a green ammonia production facility with an annual production capacity of some 2 mn tons on the sidelines of COP27.

Where is the money coming from? The project will be financed through “equity capital, loans from multilateral development banks and commercial banks, and possibly a bond issuance,” Kandil told Asharq. The government is planning to chip in with 20-25% of the cost of the project.

It’s mainly about export: The company is planning to export its production output to Europe, including Germany, with which FFI has contracts to export 5 mn tons annually starting 2030, Kandil told Asharq.