Set to be located in the coastal town of Ain Sokhna in the Suez Governorate, the project is anticipated to have capacity to produce 800,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year.

As part of the plans, AMEA has partnered with The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), the Egyptian Electricity Transmission, the New and Renewable Energy Authority, and the Suez Canal Economic Zone to deliver the project.

H2 View understands the company is in ‘advanced discussions’ with several European, Chinese, and Japanese companies to secure long-term off-take for the green ammonia produced from the SITE.

Additionally, AMEA is said to discussing the potential of providing a portion of the green hydrogen to support the development of green industries in Egypt with the Egyptian Hydrocarbon corporation.

Having already completed a feasibility study for the Ain Sokhna project, front-end engineering design (FEED) is scheduled to start in January 2023, with a final investment decision (FID) expected within 24-36 months.

AMEA has said it will develop the plant in two 500MW phases to de-risk the project. If successful, operations of the first phase could start in 2027.

“The world is entering a new era of clean energy deployment, where emerging solutions like green hydrogen will present huge opportunities for investment, job creation and countries like Egypt to become major hubs for clean energy,” said Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of AMEA Power.

He added, “AMEA Power is committed to working with its partners to help deliver the global energy transition and support emerging markets to advance their economic and social development. This project is the first of several large scale clean energy projects that AMEA Power will develop across the region as the company enters a new phase in its journey and begins to scale up operations across Africa.”

The announcement comes just days after Masdar released its Africa’s Green Energy Revolution report, which estimated that Africa could produce 30-60 million tonnes of hydrogen annually, with 20-40 million tonnes expected to be for export.

Read more: Africa could produce 30-60 million tonnes of hydrogen annually

Ayman Soliman, CEO of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt, added, “This great success marks a major milestone for Egypt’s green strategy and was only possible with the persistence of all government sponsors and the partners’ belief in the potential of Egypt as a green hydrogen hub.

“Egypt has put a tremendous effort in the development of its Green Hydrogen Program and has made incredible progress reaching this stage in a matter of months. The signing of this binding agreement is a testament to TSFE’s ability to execute on its role in attracting private investment into strategic sectors. It comes in-line with TSFE’s decarbonisation strategy using sustainable means that benefit the economy and position Egypt as a regional green energy hub”

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