Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) announced it had signed the agreement with the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA), The General Authority for Suze Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt for Investment and Development (TSFE).

Subject to the outcome of the studies, FFI has said it has an interest in developing large-scale renewable energy projects in the nation.

The agreement follows on from a Rystad Energy report, released in May (2022), which anticipated that Egypt’s current green hydrogen project pipeline would amount to 11.62GW and 1.75 million tonnes of green hydrogen once they come online ahead of 2035.

Read more: Rystad Energy anticipate green hydrogen boom in Egypt

In July this year (2022), the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region’s potential for becoming an exporter of green hydrogen was highlighted in a joint report by Siemens Energy and Roland Berger, which read, “Exporting green hydrogen to the European demand centre presents a major economic prospect and the opportunity to gain geo-political significance in the global decarbonisation effort.”

Read more: Report highlights MEA region’s potential as green hydrogen exporter

Commenting on the agreement, Ayman Soliman, CEO of TSFE, said, “Our green hydrogen portfolio is expanding, enabling us to deliver on our goal and promise of producing green energy flagship projects. We are glad to collaborate with FFI on this project, who are renowned players in the zero-carbon energy generation field.”

Julie Shuttleworth, Global Growth at FFI, added, “Egypt has the potential to become a global powerhouse in the green energy value chain.

“Egypt’s excellent hydropower, wind and solar resources can generate the renewable energy required to produce large scale green electricity, green hydrogen and green ammonia both for export and to decarbonise Egyptian industry.”

Moataz Kandil, President for Middle East North Africa at FFI, commented, “This MoU is a significant step towards lowering emissions and progressing green energy projects in the region.

“FFI is looking forward to working with the Arab Republic of Egypt on this new venture, as well as our shared commitment to delivering social, environmental and economic benefits.”