It marks some new impetus in the ambitious Megaton Moon renewable energy project which was officially launched in February to support decarbonisation across key industries such as fertilisers, refineries, petrochemicals, transport and power generation.
It is targeting 60GW/190TWh of hybrid solar and wind generation with 35GW electrolysis, producing 4 million tonnes of green hydrogen yearly or further processed 18 million tonnes of green ammonia.
The staged implementation targets first pilot stage by 2028 and last stage by 2033-2035.
Karsten Nielsen, CEO of GreenGo Energy, said the project could deliver 1% of total global green hydrogen demand by 2050.
“So we only need one hundred projects at this scale completed and distributing green fuels globally by 2050. This is doable,” he said.
He said Mauritania holds some of the best solar and wind resource cross in the world, large areas of suitable flat land and coastal proximity for water and shipping, and that green hydrogen production cost is half of Northern Europe, potentially lower.
The project will utilize the 10TWh+ surplus power to facilitate development of a large scale, local desert farming industry, establish a new green industry including local supply chain attracted by the new paradigm of abundant low-cost green energy and water.
More than 70 million tonnes of desalinated water will be generated yearly to facilitate this development, or triple of what is consumed in the Megaton facility itself for green fuel production.
The drawbacks for nascent P2X projects include high implementation costs, challenges with energy grid infrastructure, technical and data readiness issues, social and political instability, and the need for a skilled workforce.
Implementing large-scale, export-oriented energy projects also requires significant international collaboration and a stable market for the produced products.
Judging by recent market announcements, companies are ready to take on the challenges.
Möhring Energie plans to build a 100MW green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Nouadhibou, Mauritania.
Set to be scaled in stages up to 1GW, the industrial plant is expected to produce 140,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and 400,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year from 2029.
Hydrogen project developer Hynfra signed a Framework Agreement with Mauritania’s government to develop a $1.5bn green ammonia plant in the country in September.
Building upon the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year, the project will now enter the next phase. The latest agreement was signed with Mauritania Green Ammonia, a special-purpose company established by the Polish company.
The World Power-to-X Summit in Marrakech in October generated many calls to action, with Morocco’s Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development urging greater industry acceleration.