Bavaria cooperates with Egypt on hydrogen

31.01.2025

Source: E & M powernews

The Free State of Bavaria has signed a work plan for hydrogen with representatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy.

Bavaria wants to support Egypt in establishing a hydrogen economy. To this end, Bavaria's State Secretary for Economic Affairs Tobias Gotthardt (Free Voters) has signed a cooperation work plan with German and Egyptian representatives from politics and the hydrogen industry. "This has laid an important foundation stone for networking between Bavaria and Egypt," according to a statement from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs in Munich.

Bavarian organizations are to use their expertise in research and technology to support Egypt in building a modern hydrogen infrastructure. "At the same time, Egypt's great potential for green hydrogen opens up new opportunities for the Bavarian economy - be it in imports or in the development of joint projects. Hydrogen connects - as a driver of innovation and as a motor for the future of Bavaria and Egypt," explained Gotthardt in a statement.

Egypt can play an important role in Germany's hydrogen supply. In July 2024, the German hydrogen platform H2 Global organized a first auction for the import of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia.

Egypt was awarded the first contract to supply green ammonia to Germany. Around 260,000 tons are to be exported between 2027 and 2033. This corresponds to more than 10 percent of Germany's annual ammonia production, according to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Economics in Berlin at the time.

The contract for the first tender for green ammonia was awarded to Fertiglobe, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. The ammonia, which will be imported as part of H2 Global, will be produced in Egypt. To this end, 273 MW of renewable energy plants are being built in Egypt. This will lead to an annual saving of 93,000 tons of CO2 emissions compared to fossil fuels, it was reported at the time.

H2 Global is a platform for importing green hydrogen and its derivatives. It was developed with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and experts under the leadership of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV). The concept envisages bringing supply and demand together via a double auction mechanism.

Author: Stefan Sagmeister