Recently, Egypt and France signed a cooperation agreement with a total investment of 7 billion euros to build a large - scale green hydrogen and ammonia production base in Ras Shokeir on the Red Sea coast.
The project will be led by the French renewable energy company EDF Renewables and the Egyptian enterprise ZeroWaste, and jointly promoted by the Egyptian Red Sea Port Authority and the New and Renewable Energy Authority.
It is reported that the project will be fully financed and constructed by private enterprises, and the government will not assume any financial or infrastructure obligations.
The project will be implemented in three phases. Starting from 2029, it can produce up to 1 million tons of green ammonia annually. The investment in the first - phase project is 2 billion euros, and the annual output is expected to be 300,000 tons.
To ensure the supply of clean energy, the project has been approved to use 368 square kilometers of land in Ras Shokeir for solar and wind power generation, and another 1.2 million square meters for the construction of integrated industrial facilities.
In addition, the project will also build an export terminal 400 meters long with a draft of 17 meters and a 7 - kilometer - long power transmission corridor. Seawater desalination facilities will also be built to ensure the water supply for the project.
Kamel El - Wazir, the deputy minister of the Egyptian Ministry of Industrial Development, said that the project will be fully operated by private enterprises, responsible for its own profits and losses, and the investment cycle is expected to reach 50 years.
He said that during the project construction and operation phases, thousands of job opportunities are expected to be created. The contracting enterprises promise to train and hire local labor, aiming to make Egyptian employees account for 95% of the project team. At the same time, the project is also expected to drive the local manufacturing of key components of green energy such as electrolyzers, solar panels, and wind power equipment.
El - Wazir pointed out that the project will also provide green fuel for the Suez Canal shipping. The new Red Sea port to be built will be developed by the Red Sea Port General Administration without increasing the financial burden.
The President of France visited Egypt earlier this month, attended the Egypt - France Business Forum during the visit, and discussed cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure, and industry.
This cooperation agreement is one of the achievements of the visit and is also in line with Egypt's strategic intention to promote the export of clean energy and green fuel.
