Mauritania to launch massive hydrogen production project

Mauritania has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt for a massive green hydrogen project, Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung reported on Wednesday.   

The project, which is worth $34 billion, will be carried out by a consortium made up of German project developer Conjuncta, the UAE renewable energy giant MASDAR, and Egyptian technology provider Infinity.   

It will have an overall hydrogen production capacity of up to 8 million tons annually and an electrolyzer capacity of up to 10 gigawatts (GW), Conjuncta said in a joint statement with the partners involved and the Mauritanian government.  

According to the German company, the first phase of the project with a capacity of 400 megawatts will be located northeast of Mauritania’s capital of Nouakchott and is due to be completed in 2028.   

The project “will have a strong link to Germany both as a technology provider and a potential offtaker of green energy,” Conjuncta’s CEO Stefan Liebing said.  

The announcement comes as Germany is struggling to boost its renewable energy production to compensate for the shortfall in Russian oil and gas imports and to meet climate targets.   

In February, Mauritania signed a contract for offshore oil exploration and production with British energy major Shell, expanding the company’s presence in the country. Shell holds a 75% stake in the project, while Mauritania’s government owns the remaining 25%.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section