TODAY: A big step forward for Amea’s green hydrogen plans in Egypt

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Sunday, 3 September 2023

TODAY: A big step forward for Amea’s green hydrogen plans in Egypt

Good morning, friends. It’s a busy start to the week with a lot of ground to cover and some key updates emerging from Egypt. Let’s jump right in.

OUR TOP STORY- Emirati renewables company Amea Power — a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based investment company Al Nowais — has finalized the feasibility studies for its planned green hydrogen plant in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone, Amea Power’s Senior Director of Business Development Hussein Matar tells us.

^^ We have all the details on this story and much more in the news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY- The Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference is kicking off today and running until Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The event will feature over 50 speakers to spotlight sustainability, new technologies, and digitization efforts in the maritime industry. The Africa Climate Summit is also beginning today and running through to Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya. The event will bring together government leaders and investors to share pathways to increasing Africa’s climate resilience, with a focus on how to finance environmental priorities and shift the focus from Africa as a victim of floods and famine. The summit will serve as a platform to inform and frame commitments, pledges, and outcomes, ultimately leading to the development of the Nairobi Declaration on Climatic Change.

ALSO- Angola, Ethiopia, and possibly Djibouti will join The Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) at the Africa Green Hydrogen Forum — part of the Africa Climate Summit — in Nairobi today, according to their website. By joining the alliance, the new members will gain support and knowledge from the international community in developing their green hydrogen roadmaps and strategies. Egypt, Mauritania, and Morocco — all members of the AGHA — will be attending the summit to present their national agendas for green hydrogen projects.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Hurricane aftermath in Florida: Biden’s visit to Florida to survey the destruction left behind in the wake of Hurricane Idalia grabbed headlines over the weekend. Biden’s visit comes on the heels of the category 3 storm leaving a trail of damage on the state’s Gulf Coast including devastating floods, fallen buildings and downed trees and power lines. The US President pointed to a series of extreme weather events and disasters happening across the globe by remarking that “nobody can deny the impact of the climate crisis. There’s no real intelligence to deny the impacts of the climate crisis anymore.”

OVER IN COPLAND- EU to push for fossil fuel phase out agreement at COP28: EU countries are preparing to push for a global pact on phasing out fossil fuels at COP28, Reuters reports, citing a draft of the EU's negotiating position it obtained. “The shift towards a climate neutral economy will require the global phase-out of [unabated] fossil fuels and a peak in their consumption already in the near term,” the draft said, with “unabated” referring to fossil fuels burned without using carbon capture technologies.

Still being debated: Having the word “unabated” in brackets in the draft text indicates that countries have not yet agreed on whether to include it, the newswire notes, with the EU document said the global energy sector should be largely free of fossil fuels “well ahead of 2050” given that cost-effective, emission-free energy sources are already available. Oil-based economies are expected to push back against the EU proposal, which is still being negotiated and could change before it is due to be finalized in October.

If it’s non-binding, why does it matter anyways? The idea behind a global pact to gradually quit fossil fuels is to create a powerful “north star” to guide future climate negotiations, government policies, and investments towards energy sources and technologies that do not contribute to heating the planet, Reuters said.

REMEMBER- Countries have never before agreed in UN climate negotiations to gradually stop burning all CO2-emitting fossil fuels. Despite a proposal to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels getting backing from more than 80 countries at COP27, Saudi Arabia and other oil and gas-rich nations blocked it, similar to what happened at the G20 energy ministers meeting in July. Whether COP28 will be able to deliver a more tangible action plan for phasing out fossil fuels has been questioned by some groups who say the UAE has conflicting interests as both the summit host and a top oil producing country. These critics say President Delegate Sultan Al Jaber is already using vague language when referring to a phase-out agreement, which the UN’s former climate chief Christiana Figueres has called “dangerous.”

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Taqa’s USD 1.5 bn in green bonds are hitting the ADX: The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) is listing its USD 1.5 bn dual-tranche green bond issuance on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange on Thursday, according to a disclosure (pdf) to the ADX. Both the 10-year and five-year tranches — issued in April and 10x oversubscribed — will be traded publicly on the exchange. Taqa sold a USD 1 bn 10-year tranche issued at a coupon rate of 4.696% that will mature on 24 April 2033. Taqa also sold USD 500 mn in five-year notes — issued as conventional bonds at a coupon rate of 4.375% — with a maturity date of 24 January 2029. The proceeds from these notes will be used to finance, refinance, and invest in green projects outlined within Taqa’s green finance framework, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable water and wastewater management, clean transportation, and terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Germany’s Scholz takes a stance against nuclear energy: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his opposition to a nuclear power option in the country calling it “a dead horse in Germany," Reuters reported on Saturday, citing an interview with the German leader by local radio station Deutschlandfunk. His comments come in response to recent suggestions by a junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), to keep the nuclear option open. Scholz argued that significant time and investments would be needed to build new nuclear power plants, estimating at least EUR 15 bn for each power plant over the next 15 years would be needed. Germany shut down the last three of its nuclear power plants in April, retiring the energy source after six decades of operation.

IN OTHER EU NEWS- Ports in Europe are vying to have a vital role in the EU’s Clean Energy Gateway Plan as demand for clean-energy industrial clusters grows, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Port authorities and leading energy companies at the Port of Rotterdam are working on a large-scale network that will include clean energy from offshore wind farms and hydrogen production and pipelines to deliver the fuel to manufacturers on-site and inland. The Dutch port seeks to provide the EU’s northwestern region with at least 4.6 mn tons of hydrogen by the end of the decade, representing a quarter of the bloc’s overall goal. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is also showing interest in clean energy through talks on hydrogen projects with investors, its CEO Jacques Vandermeiren said.

DATA POINT– Global wind turbine orders reach record highs: Global wind turbine order intake rose 12% y-o-y in the 1H 2023 to reach 69.5 GW, according to analysis from consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie. The increase came on the back of orders from outside China, reaching a 47% y-o-y increase during the time period and accounting for over 25 GW.

NON-CLIMATE REGIONAL HEADLINES OVER THE WEEKEND-

Egypt: Egypt’s net foreign liabilities narrowed by USD 800 mn in July, driven by a slight easing in FX liquidity in the banking sector, according to central bank figures released last week. (Enterprise)
UAE: The UAE increased prices of petrol and diesel between 9.5-15.3% at the beginning of September. (Statement)
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Aramco is considering selling shares worth USD 50 bn in a secondary listing on the Saudi stock exchange, in what would be the largest offering in the history of capital markets. (Wall Street Journal)

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Egypt will host the Annual Regional Sustainability and Development Forum on Thursday 7 September and Friday 8 September in Cairo. The two-day forum brings together government officials, policymakers, the business community, NGO representatives, and others to discuss challenges to sustainable development in the region. It will also showcase the latest sustainable development technologies and practices, allowing businesses and organizations to present their related work and products.

India will host the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit from Saturday, 9 September to Sunday, 10 September in New Delhi. A G20 Leaders’ Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the summit, stating commitment towards priorities discussed and agreed upon during previous ministerial and working group meetings through the year, the organizers note. The last meeting of G20 energy ministers in July failed to reach consensus on a fossil fuel phasedown as several major producing nations, led by Saudi Arabia, blocked the move. Among other expected announcements, the Global Biofuels Alliance is scheduled to be launched at the summit.

Egypt will host the Hydrogen Egypt Summit on Wednesday 13 September and Thursday 14 September in Cairo. The two-day event will bring together members of the local and global hydrogen industry to discuss optimizing hydrogen and green hydrogen development in MENA. The event will serve as a platform for the local industry to discuss potential investments with global investors, operators, and technology providers.

Morocco will host the World Power-to-X Summit from Tuesday 19 September to Thursday 21 September in Marrakech. The event brings together policymakers, industry leaders, and innovators in green hydrogen to showcase success stories in the carbon-free industry. It will also explore scaling-up projects throughout the Power-to-X value chain and hold discussions on harmonizing roadmaps of contiguous countries and adjacent regions.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.