Infinity Power & Masdar: mega renewable projects in Mauritania, Egypt
By Julian Atchison on March 23, 2023
Exports from north Africa to Germany
Masdar joint venture Infinity Power, Germany-based Conjuncta and the government of Mauritania have agreed to develop a renewable hydrogen export mega-project. The plant will be located on the country’s west coast, somewhere north of the capital city Nouakchott. 10 GW of electrolyser capacity will be developed over four phases, with the first, 400 MW-capacity phase to be operational by 2028. Up to 8 million tonnes per year of renewable fuels of non-biological origin will be produced for export to Germany.
Masdar is involved in renewable ammonia projects in Egypt (see below) and the UAE, and has now joined a growing list of global players focused on production in Mauritania. CWP Global is developing their 30 GW wind + solar AMAN project in the same area of Mauritania as Infinity Power, and bp signed an MoU with the Mauritanian government last November to explore large-scale production. Chariot and Total Eren also partnered in late 2022 to develop a 10 GW electrolysis project in Mauritania.
Ammonia fuel project gets a “golden license” in Egypt
In April last year, Masdar, Hassan Allam Utilities, and Infinity Power signed an MoU with SCZONE to develop a green maritime fuels production project in two phases. Initially producing bunker methanol by 2026, 4 GW of electrolysis capacity and over 2 million tonnes of ammonia production will be developed next to the Suez Canal. Last December, the Egyptian cabinet granted the project a “golden license”: a one-time approval to develop, operate and manage a project in Egypt.
Also in this December batch of golden licenses, the Egypt Green Hydrogen project was awarded. The project is being developed by Fertiglobe, Orascom, The Sovereign Fund of Egypt and Scatec, with a 100 MW electrolyser plant to feed ammonia production at the neighboring EBIC plant in Ain Sokhna.