World-scale green ammonia production in Egypt
By on March 17, 2022
Scatec will partner with a series of Egyptian government entities to develop a million-tonne-per-year green ammonia plant in Ain Sokhna, adjacent to the Suez Canal. Expansion plans are already front-of-mind for the project partners, with the official announcement indicating a potential scale-up of production from one million to three million tonnes per year of green ammonia. The facility will be powered by new renewable energy generation to be built within close proximity, and Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) has already allocated land for this purpose.
The announcement comes just a week after Scatec joined a similar sized project under development in Oman. And – just like in the Gulf – Scatec have already indicated that long term off-take agreements and green ammonia export to growing European & Asian markets will be key features of the Egyptian project. The announcement also marks a major step-up in the ongoing partnership between Scatec and the Egyptian government. Exploring the possibility of a green ammonia project in Ain Sokhna was an important condition of an MoU signed in December 2021, which also included green hydrogen production and renewable-powered seawater desalination.
We believe that no effort should be spared to accelerate the energy transition, and we are thrilled to be contributing to Egypt’s aspiration to become a hub for green fuel.
Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec in his organisation’s official press release, 10 March 2022
Ain Sokhna
Decarbonisation of an existing ammonia production plant is already in progress in Ain Sokhna. The Egyptian Basic Industries Company (EBIC) operates a 730,000 tonnes per year ammonia plant there, and in November 2021 a consortium (including Scatec!) selected US-based Plug Power to provide 100 MW of electrolysers for installation in a new green hydrogen production facility. The consortium is targeting 2024 to start operations, but will complete enough work to demonstrate the facility at this year’s COP climate conference.