Most hydrogen projects in Africa are centred on Egypt, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa. These four nations account for more than 70% of active projects in the region, with Egypt holding 38% and the other three 13%, 11% and 9% respectively.

Egypt

Egypt has ambitious plans to become a green hydrogen/ammonia production hub. The government has announced it intends to capture 5% of the global hydrogen market by 2040. The country’s planning minister has said investment in domestic hydrogen infrastructure is expected to reach $500b by 2030.

Most hydrogen projects are being developed in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Since mid-2022, this area has seen more than $50b in green hydrogen/ammonia project announcements. These investments include the production of blue and green hydrogen, waste-to-hydrogen, renewable power infrastructure (e.g., wind/solar farms) and green fuels such as green methanol to decarbonise the shipping industry. Several notable low- or zero-carbon hydrogen/ammonia and green methanol projects in Egypt are detailed in Fig.1.

South Africa

Due to its location, South Africa can benefit greatly from renewable power production from wind and solar installations. The country plans use to its natural resources to decarbonise industries within its borders, including power generation—South Africa presently relies on coal for approximately 80% of its electricity needs.

$500b – Egypt’s expected investment in hydrogen infrastructure by 2030

In its Hydrogen Society Roadmap report, the government of South Africa identified 70 action plans to decarbonise the nation. These included pathways to decarbonise energy-intensive industries (such as cement, mining, steel and oil refineries) and heavy-duty transport; enhancing the nation’s power grid with green power; boosting the production of hydrogen generation and fuel-cell components; creating a green hydrogen export market; and increasing the role of hydrogen in various industries.

To increase the production of green hydrogen, South Africa’s Department of Science and Innovation released the South Africa Hydrogen Valley Final Report. This detailed the potential development of three domestic hydrogen hubs—Johannesburg, Durban/Richards Bay and Mogalakwena/Limpopo (see Fig.2)—as well as various projects to decarbonise various industrial sectors and transport. In total, South Africa is targeting approximately $250b in investments to 2050 to boost its domestic green hydrogen value chain.

Namibia

Namibia also plans to use its sunny climate to increase hydrogen production. It will utilise solar power to produce hydrogen for both domestic consumption and export. The country’s most capital-intensive project is being developed by Hyphen Hydrogen Energy. The company’s two-phase, $10b project will produce green hydrogen that will be converted into green ammonia for export, primarily to German utility RWE. The project could ultimately produce up to 2mt/yr of green ammonia by 2030.

Namibia may also be the site of Africa’s first hydrogen power plant. France’s HDF Energy is investing nearly $200m to develop a power station that will run on clean hydrogen. Once operational in 2024, the plant will help the nation mitigate power imports from neighbouring countries, primarily South Africa, from which Namibia imports approximately 40% of its electricity. These two projects—part of Namibia’s Vision 2030 initiative—will enable the country to satisfy its domestic power requirements as well as become the region’s first country to both be carbon-neutral and start up a hydrogen power plant. 

Morocco

According to its Green Hydrogen Roadmap, Morocco has ambitious plans to significantly boost domestic hydrogen production. Doing so will help the African country mitigate fertiliser imports and increase the market share of renewables in its domestic energy mix. Morocco’s goal is to increase the share of renewables in its energy market from less than 40% in 2022 to 52% by 2030 and up to 80% by 2050. Additional solar and wind projects will provide both clean electricity and feedstock for green ammonia production. Companies such as France’s Total Eren and fertiliser company OCP are providing Morocco with more than $25b in green hydrogen/ammonia projects. OCP plans to invest approximately $7b to produce green ammonia for fertiliser production. In its initial phase, the facility will produce 200,000t/yr of green ammonia by 2026, ramping up to 1mt/yr by 2027 and upwards of 3mt/yr by 2032. Total Eren is developing the $10b Guelmim-Oued Noun project in northern Morocco. The project will utilise 10GW of renewable energy to produce green hydrogen/ammonia.

Other countries

$250b – South Africa’s targeted hydrogen investment to 2050

Although Egypt, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa account for most active hydrogen projects in the region, other African countries are investing in green hydrogen/ammonia projects. Mauritania has nearly $75b in green hydrogen projects under development. These capital investments—including Egyptian-Emirati joint venture Infinity Power Holdings’ green hydrogen facility in Nouakchott, the 10GW Nour project to produce 1.2mt/yr of green hydrogen, Serbia-headquartered developer CWP Global’s 30GW AMAN project to produce 1.7mt/yr of green hydrogen and up to 10mt/yr of green ammonia, and  BP’s studies to possibly produce 2mt/yr of green hydrogen—could lead to the production of more than 10mt/yr of green hydrogen/ammonia by the early-to-mid 2030s.

Other nations—such as Algeria, Angola, Djibouti, Kenya and Zimbabwe—have all announced plans, memorandum of understanding (MOUs) and/or strategies to increase hydrogen production capacity. Notable projects/initiatives include:

• Algeria: Italy’s Eni and NOC Sonatrach have signed an MOU to study the development of a hydrogen pilot plant to decarbonise the joint venture’s gas plant at its Bir Rebaa North installation. Algeria is also planning to upgrade its pipeline capacity to capture approximately 10% of European green hydrogen demand. This will be achieved through converting and extending gas pipelines to carry green hydrogen. These pipelines will extend through southern Europe to Germany.
• Angola: Sonangol is building a green ammonia production facility in the port of Barra do Dande. Once operational in 2024, the facility will export as much as 280,000t/yr of green ammonia to European countries such as Germany.
• Djibouti: Djibouti is working with CWP Global and Australia’s Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to develop green hydrogen/power projects. CWP plans to build 10GW of green energy capacity to produce power and green hydrogen for Djibouti. The country’s government is also working with FFI on new green hydrogen/power production units in Goubet and Obock. These projects will complement the country’s Vision 2035 economic plan, which aims at working with neighbouring countries to boost green energy. production and installing a green hydrogen hub at the mouth of the Red Sea.
• Kenya: FFI is developing a 300MW green hydrogen facility to produce both green hydrogen for the domestic power generation and green ammonia to help satisfy the country’s fertiliser demand.
• Zimbabwe: HDF Energy plans to build a $300m, 178GWh green hydrogen power plant in the Chipinge district in southeast Zimbabwe. The facility will produce green hydrogen that will feed the nation’s power grid.

These projects, among others, will help Africa significantly boost the production of renewable power, green hydrogen and clean ammonia/fertiliser production, increase clean energy exports to regions such as Europe and help domestic job creation, among other benefits.

The second and third parts of this six-part report covered Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. The next two will cover hydrogen in Europe, Russia & the CIS; and the Americas. Click here for the introduction to the report.

FIG.1: Notable active low-/zero-carbon hydrogen/ammonia and methanol projects in Egypt

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Author: Lee Nichols