The Saudi-controlled real estate firm and Rawabi Holding subsidiary will develop the $1bn office tower in the New Administrative Capital (NAC), located in the desert east of Cairo.
Designs for the Forbes International Tower are scheduled to begin soon, with the building anticipated to be completed by 2030. It is reported that the tower will be financed via various debt-equity instruments.
H2 View understands that it will be the first Net Zero carbon tower in MENA, with solar panels embedded to produce 25% of the electricity it consumes, with the rest generated by clean hydrogen and transported to the building in liquid form.
Magnom’s Chief Investment Officer, Ahmed Kassem, admitted that the company is still at a group level discussing whether to retain full ownership of the building.”
The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Schneider Electric and H2-Enerprises last year (2023) to co-develop a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) system for the tower.
Read more: Proposed Forbes International Tower to utilise LOHC systems
Egypt’s new capital city is a large-scale development project launched in 2015 to support congestion in Cairo and the country’s growing population. The city is anticipated to be the financial hub of Egypt, home to government ministries, foreign embassies and major businesses.
It is scheduled to accommodate around 6.5 million people once complete, however, views from locals are mixed, with some concerned about its cost and priorities.
MENA: Five countries, five hydrogen hotspots
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the past two years has been showing the world its ability to capitalise on its hydrogen potential. Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco, in particular, have all stepped up their respective goals and activities.
As traditional oil and gas producing nations, the five countries benefit from energy expertise, abundant renewable energy potential and natural gas supply, convenient location between the hydrogen-hungry regions of Europe and Asia, among a degree of other factors.
While 2022 and 2023’s headlines were dominated by the vast political race between Europe and North America, MENA has steadily and meaningfully worked towards the realisation of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen at scale, as it looks to renew its role as a global energy player. Here, H2 View looks into the five hydrogen hotspots.
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