Egypt + China ink two clean energy agreements in SCZone worth USD 15 bn: Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) has inked agreements — worth a combined investment ticket of USD 14.75 bn — for two clean energy projects with China Energy and China’s United Energy, according to a statement. China Energy signed a framework agreement for a planned green hydrogen plant in the SCZone and United Energy is planning a renewables-powered potassium chloride production facility.

United Energy’s facility: Hong Kong-headquartered power company United Energy will establish a potassium chloride production facility — at an estimated USD 8 bn price tag — set to be powered by 6.1 GW of renewable energy, the statement notes. The project would be developed over three phases, with the initial phase setting up a solar plant to generate 150 MW of clean energy to produce 100k tons of chloride potassium. The project will eventually have a production capacity of 4.1 mn tons when fully operational, the statement adds, with 20% of the production earmarked for domestic demand.

China Energy’s green hydrogen plant: Chinese state-owned power firm China Energy Engineering Corporation signed a framework agreement for its USD 6.75 bn green hydrogen plant which will span 500k square meters and generate 210k ton of green hydrogen annually. The green hydrogen will serve as feedstock to generate 1.2 mn tons of green ammonia per annum, the statement notes.

We knew this was coming: China Energy said it intended to sign the framework agreement within two months back in May to develop the green hydrogen plant. The price tag of the project has increased some USD 1.6 bn from the previously announced USD 5.1 bn investment earmarked for the project back in March.

China Energy is also looking elsewhere in the region: The company inked a non-binding agreement with Morocco’s Gaia Energy and Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros to jointly build a green hydrogen production facility in Morocco which would be powered by a 2 GW solar energy farm and a 4 GW wind power plant to produce 1.4 mn tons and 320k tons of green hydrogen annually.

REMEMBER- Egypt has high hopes for hydrogen: The Egyptian government — which says it will operate its first green hydrogen plant in 2026 — aims to produce up to 1.5 mn tons of green hydrogen per year by 2030 through 19 GW of energy generated from solar and wind projects. The country aims to raise production to 5.8 mn tons by 2040 from 72 GW of renewable energy. This would allow for exporting 3.8 mn tons of green hydrogen, or 5% of the global market.

IN OTHER EGYPT NEWS- SCZone head Walid Gamal El Din met with Chinese EV maker Nio representatives to explore avenues for knowledge transfer and collaboration, according to a separate statement. Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm CYVN Holdings invested USD 738.5 mn in Nio last June to acquire a 7% stake in the company.