Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla participated as a keynote speaker in a dialogue session titled “Hydrogen Pathways” within the activities of the British Egyptian Business Association’s (BEBA) trade mission in the UK to promote green investments, the ministry said in a statement.

The session was attended by Jane Toogood, the UK’s First Hydrogen Champion and the Chief Executive of Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey; Terje Pilskog, CEO of the Norwegian Scatec; Anja-Isabel, Executive Vice President of Gas and Low Carbon Energy at BP; and Mike Scholey CEO of Globeleq Energy Company. The session was moderated by Heike Harmgart, Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

During the session, El Molla stated that hydrogen is gaining increasing importance in global energy markets as a low-carbon source of energy. Egypt is aware of the importance of developing a hydrogen economy locally to take advantage of its potentials to become a global hub for green hydrogen production in the medium and long terms.

The minister added that the Egyptian petroleum sector plays a major role in all value chain activities of the low-carbon hydrogen industry, including green hydrogen, from renewable energy generation to the production of hydrogen derivatives, which include ammonia and methanol. Both are essential elements in the petrochemical industry in the sector.

El Molla presented the cooperation agreements concluded by the ministry through its subsidiaries with foreign partners in the field of green hydrogen production, which aim to produce green ammonia, in addition to establishing the first green methanol plant in Egypt in cooperation with the Norwegian company Scatec.

The minister noted that most of the green hydrogen projects under development in Egypt aim to produce green ammonia and green methanol for export to meet the growing demand in global markets.

El Molla stated that according to the national strategy for low-carbon hydrogen that is being finalized, there is a vision to allocate part of the hydrogen produced in Egypt for local use, which contributes to supporting carbon removal efforts.

The minister explained that an incentive law for the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives would soon be approved.

In addition, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is in the process of finalizing the Egyptian national strategy for low-carbon hydrogen to include a governance structure in line with international best practices. This will help attract more investments in Egypt in the field of hydrogen.