The company revealed it had reached an agreement to establish a joint venture to offer integrated green hydrogen solutions in the African country with an unnamed Moroccan energy firm.

Under the agreement, the joint venture will look to set up an alkaline electrolyser manufacturing plant, which the companies have said will be the first of its kind on the continent.

H2 View understands the planned gigafactory is expected to have large-scale manufacturing capabilities for alkaline electrolysers with capacity of 5MW and above. From the factory, John Cockerill and its partner will look to jointly develop a green hydrogen value chain.

It is hoped by establishing such a factory, the following developments in the hydrogen industry will encourage large industries to implement a national energy ecosystem focused on renewable energy.

In April last year (2022), John Cockerill partnered with Greenko to develop a 2GW electrolyser factory in India, which it said could help substitute 8% of the country’s LNG imports.

Read more: Greenko, John Cockerill partner to develop India’s ‘largest’ green hydrogen electrolyser gigafactory

Commenting on the Moroccan plans, Raphaël Tilot, Executive Chairman of John Cockerill Hydrogen, said, “We are honoured to be able to contribute to the energy transition in Morocco. Just like the Kingdom’s great successes in the aerospace and automotive industries, we are determined to establish such a local ecosystem around hydrogen technologies together.”

Africa’s hydrogen potential was brought into focus by numerous reports over the course of 2022. Most recently, a study commissioned by the European Investment Bank, International Solar Alliance, and the Africa Union said that Africa’s solar energy could produce 50 million tonnes of hydrogen per year by 2035.

Read more: EIB study highlights Africa’s green hydrogen potential

The report concluded that green hydrogen is economically viable at €2/kg ($2.13/kg) and can accelerate low-carbon economic growth across the continent and reduce emissions by 40%.