Egypt inks USD 14.75bn green energy pacts with Chinese firms

Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has entered into USD 14.75 billion (EUR 13.9bn) worth of investment pacts with Chinese companies aimed at the production of green hydrogen and ammonia as well as renewables-powered potassium chloride in the North African country.

The SCZONE has sealed a framework agreement with industrial group China Energy International Group for a USD-6.75-billion project aimed at the production of 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia and 210,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually. The new capacity will be built in the Sokhna industrial zone, spanning an area of 500,000 square metres (5.38 million sq ft).

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The pact is the latest in a series of agreements Egypt has signed over the last year as the Arab country has set itself the goal of seizing 8% of the global hydrogen market. In December alone, the country sealed seven pacts with local and international companies to study the development of green hydrogen production in the SCZONE.

Apart from China Energy, Hong Kong-based United Energy Group (HKG:0467), in turn, has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the SCZONE to set up a potassium chloride production complex powered by renewable energy, with an expected investment of USD 8 billion. The project will be realised in three stages, targeting an optimal capacity of 4.1 million tonnes of potassium chloride produced through 6.1 GW of renewable power.

“We are keen on offering full support to the investments in the field of energy which comes from the implementation of SCZONE’s strategy towards green fuel production. We are working to accelerate the pace of work on this file due to its global need,” SCZONE’s chairman Waleid Gamal El-Dien said.

The pacts with China Energy and UEG are two of a number of agreements sealed during the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

Another renewable power-related pact inked by SCZONE in Beijing is a USD-500-million deal with China Africa TEDA Investment Company and China Glass for the production of 243,200 tonnes of float glass and 235,000 tonnes of rolled glass annually, primarily for photovoltaic (PV) modules with 80% set for export.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.945)