Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla chaired a panel discussion on hydrogen and the future of energy carriers, which was hosted by the Egyptian pavilion at COP28 as part of Energy Day’s activities.

Panelists included Terje Pilskog, SCATEC CEO; Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes; and Heike Harmgart, Managing Director, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Region at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The panel was moderated by Carlos Pascual, Vice President for Global Energy at S&P Global.

At the opening of the session, El Molla stated that low-carbon hydrogen and its derivatives are among the most prominent solutions to overcome the challenges facing the energy industry. It can contribute significantly to achieving decarbonization goals in addition to securing energy supplies, which is in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the carbon reduction and energy transition strategy.

El Molla added that actual, implementable projects have been approved in the field of green hydrogen and its derivatives, which will be executed in cooperation with the Norwegian company SCATEC as a step in supporting the process of transforming Egypt into a regional center for hydrogen and green fuels.

The minister pointed out that a few days earlier, Fertiglobe announced the export of the first green ammonia shipment in the world, which was produced in the company’s facilities in Egypt. Moreover, the first operation to supply ships with green methanol in Africa and the Middle East was announced a few weeks ago in Egypt at the port of East Port Said.

El Molla explained that expectations for the low-carbon hydrogen economy in Egypt indicate that it could contribute about $18 billion to Egypt’s gross domestic product and about 100,000 job opportunities by 2040. Egypt further aspires to have about 8% of the global hydrogen market by the same year.

The panelists emphasized the potential of green hydrogen and its derivatives as low-carbon energy sources, reviewing ways to overcome current regulatory, market and technical challenges to unleash the full potential of hydrogen.

The panel also witnessed a review of Egypt’s national strategy for low-carbon hydrogen and efforts to expand green hydrogen projects.