Tunisia signs six green hydrogen pacts with European companies

Tunisia's Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines has signed six memoranda of understanding (MoU) with European companies for the production of green hydrogen as the North African country aspires to become a major supplier of the green fuel to Europe.

The companies involved in the pacts include Austrian utility Verbund AG in cooperation with Aker Horizons and TUNUR; Savanah Energy; Hydrogene de France, an alliance of Amarenco and H2 Global; DEME Hyport and Germany's Abo Energy.

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The signing ceremony was attended by Tunisia's energy minister Fatma Thabet Chiboub.

Details about the pacts were not disclosed by the government.

The six partnerships targeting the production of green hydrogen in Tunisia support the country's green hydrogen strategy which involves attracting investments and leveraging the country's existing industrial and energy infrastructure.

By 2050, Tunisia plans to produce 8.3 million tonnes of green hydrogen and its derivatives, with 2.3 million tonnes for the local market and 6 million tonnes for export. The total investment is projected to be nearly EUR 120 billion.

A major destination for Tunisia's hydrogen exports is Europe. A joint venture between TotalEnergies and EREN Groupe, together with Verbund in May signed an MoU to study the implementation of a project in Tunisia with an initial capacity to produce 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year for export to Central Europe.

Tunisia's ambitions are bolstered by Europe's need for hydrogen imports. The governments of Germany, Austria and Italy have pledged support for the construction of the SoutH2 Corridor pipeline, which will transport green hydrogen from North Africa to the these countries. The pipeline is expected to be commissioned around 2030.