With a US$80 million loan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) backs Egypt's first green hydrogen facility

Orascom Construction, one of the largest engineering and construction groups in the Middle East and North Africa, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, a state-owned, privately managed investment fund positioning itself as the partner of choice in Egypt, and Fertiglobe, one of the largest seaborne exporters of combined urea and ammonia, own and operate Egypt Green.

To buy and build a 100 MW electrolyser facility to run on renewable energy, the EBRD is providing finance. When operational, the plant will produce up to 15,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year. Next, it will be processed into green ammonia for sale in Egypt and other countries.

Nitrogen fertilisers are a crucial crop input that feeds 40% of the world's population, yet their production is energy demanding and responsible for roughly 1.8% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Therefore, if we are to help the world reach its net zero targets by 2050, we must drastically cut the quantity of CO2 produced during the manufacturing process. The use of renewable energy to make green hydrogen is viewed as a crucial first step.

This ground-breaking endeavour is a beginning to Egypt's decarbonization of the ammonia industry. It will demonstrate that Africa's largest ammonia-producing country, whose current production is natural gas based and generates significant carbon emissions, can transition to a decarbonized hydrogen and ammonia supply chain.

When operating at full capacity, the facility will prevent more than 130,000 tonnes of annual CO2 emissions through the creation of green hydrogen.

Nandita Parshad, Sustainable Infrastructure Managing Director at the EBRD, said, “It will contribute to the decarbonisation of Egypt’s carbon-intensive industries and will demonstrate Egypt’s commitment to a thriving low-carbon hydrogen sector. It also demonstrates the commercial viability of green hydrogen production, paving the way for the decarbonisation of fertiliser and other hard-to-abate industries in our economies.” 

Andrew Tait, Chief Financial Officer of Fertiglobe, said,“This also underpins our future efforts to scale up towards the 100 MW electrolyser capacity, as we work on reaching the Final Investment Decision for the next phase of the project.”

Reham ElBeltagy, CFO of Orascom Construction, said,“This project, in particular, paves the way for the creation of a hydrogen industry for the first time in Egypt. Such new projects require strong financial partners, and we are pleased to collaborate once again with the EBRD on this sustainable project.”

Karim Badr, CEO of the TSFE Infrastructure & Utilities Subfund, stated, “We are pleased to have received the first green hydrogen financing from the EBRD following our collaboration on the development of Egypt’s green hydrogen strategy.”

Mikkel Tørud, CFO of Scatec ASA, said, “We are pleased to have strong financial partners in this green hydrogen project in Egypt. We see a massive green hydrogen demand driven by strong policy support globally, and Africa is perfectly positioned to take advantage of its low-cost renewables and strategic position.”

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations there in 2012, the Bank has invested more than €10 billion in 154 projects across the country.