The Egyptian Ministries of Petroleum & Mineral Resources and Electricity & Renewable Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to assess the economics of low-carbon hydrogen in Egypt.

The signing was witnessed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, and Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat.

El Molla stated that signing this MoU is a vital step towards benefiting from the hydrogen opportunities in Egypt, which requires extensive cooperation and studies with the help of major international institutions.

The minister confirmed that Egypt paid great attention to the transition to clean energy and the green economy, explaining that the implementation of expansion programs using natural gas as a clean fuel was an important starting point towards energy transition and reducing emissions. The consumption of natural gas in Egypt has increased steadily to reach more than 65% of its consumption of hydrocarbons or conventional fuels, he added.

This came as a part of El Molla’s speech during the celebration of the launch of the country’s strategy for development cooperation between Egypt and EBRD.

The efforts made included initiatives to expand the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a fuel for vehicles and means of transportation. CNG is used by 420,000 cars so far, in addition to expanding the establishment of natural gas car refueling stations, which reached more than 600 stations nationwide within a short period to encourage citizens and facilitate on them, El Molla stated.

Additionally, over 13 million households benefit from natural gas, and this number is increased through the delivery of gas to 1.2 million new units annually, El Molla noted, pointing out that Egypt, in cooperation with the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), has launched two initiatives to decarbonize gas and use liquefied gas as fuel for ships.

The clean energy efforts further included the implementation of projects to improve energy efficiency, amounting to about 90 projects, which contributed to reducing more than 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, El Molla said. The Egyptian oil and gas sector has implemented 13 projects to use flare gases in petroleum facilities, which have led to a reduction of 900,000 tons annually of carbon dioxide emissions within the framework of the World Bank initiative in this field, in which Egypt participates.

El Molla highlighted the importance of the current efforts of all ministries in the National Hydrogen Committee. He added that the ministry of petroleum looks forward to strengthening cooperation with all parties locally and internationally to support Egypt and the world’s efforts to achieve the goals of The Paris Agreement.