ACWA Power, the Saudi-listed developer of water, power and green hydrogen projects, announce on Wednesday that it signed a framework agreement with Egyptian state-owned entities to develop a green hydrogen project in Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE).

The framework agreement follows an initial MOU signed on 7 December 2022.

The agreement outlines the development of the first phase of the green hydrogen project powered by wind and solar plants with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes-per-year of green ammonia at an investment of more than $4 billion, according to a press statement issued by the company.

The second phase will have a potential capacity of 2 million tonnes-per-year, the statement said.

The agreement was signed between ACWA Power and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA).

This latest project brings the total number of ACWA Power’s assets in operation, under construction, and in advanced development in Egypt to 5 – all renewable energy projects with a total power generation capacity of 1.4 GW.

An ACWA Power-led consortium is developing the world’s first utility-scale green hydrogen plant in the northwest of Saudi Arabia. NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, a joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products, and NEOM, will be capable of producing 1.2 million tonnes of green ammonia per year.

Last month, the company broke ground on its second green hydrogen project, in Uzbekistan. The first phase of this project will be capable of producing 3,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. Once the second phase is complete, 2.4 GW of wind energy will power the production of 500,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year.

The company also signed further agreements during COP28 for green hydrogen projects in Jordan and Indonesia, the statement said.

Read more: COP 28 DUBAI VIDEO: Egypt's SCZONE expects around $5bln green hydrogen projects before 2026 - CEO

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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