On Wednesday 16 November, at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, the European Commission - represented by the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, and the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson - signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with Egypt on a strategic partnership relating to renewable hydrogen.
The initiative aims to help the EU reach its target of 20 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 (10 million produced on European soil and 10 million imported), in order to reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, while encouraging the decarbonisation process in Egypt by facilitating investment in renewable energy.
Welcoming the partnership, both Simson and Timmermans praised Egypt’s potential, both in terms of producing renewable hydrogen - using solar and wind power - and exporting it to the EU, due to its location.
In their view, this is a first step towards “an EU-Mediterranean partnership on renewable hydrogen”, which will serve as a model for the development of a global hydrogen market by developing appropriate “standards”.
The implementation of the partnership will be led by an EU-Egypt Hydrogen Coordination Group and will involve a forum of industry representatives, regulators, financial institutions and experts. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)