Scatec inks an agreement with Egypt to build the country’s first green methanol plant

Egypt is getting its first green methanol plant: Egyptian petrochemicals firm Alexandria National Refining & Petrochemicals (ANRPC) signed a cooperation agreement with Norwegian renewables developer Scatec to jointly establish the country’s first green methanol production facility at a cost of around USD 450 mn, according to a statement. The timeline for the project’s completion has not been revealed.

The details: Scatec and ANRPC’s green methanol plant — to be built in Egypt’s Damietta Port — will have an initial yearly production capacity of 40k tons of the green fuel, and the two companies will provide 40 MW of solar energy and 120 MW of wind power respectively to power the project, the statement notes. The plant will be powered by a 60 MW electrolyzer, will source its water supplies from a yet-to-be-established desalination plant, and could see its production quota upped to 200k tons of green methanol annually, according to the government statement. The new facility — which will provide an alternative to carbon-intensive shipping fuels — is part of Egypt’s goal to expand its fuel exports, the statement says.

Part of an ongoing partnership on renewables: The Norwegian company has signed a joint development agreement for its USD 5.5 bn green ammonia plant in Ain Sokhna with Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) and state fertilizer company Mopco. Earlier in November, Scatec began commissioning the first phase of its 100 MW green hydrogen plant in Egypt’s Ain Sokhna with SFE, OCI-Adnoc joint venture Fertiglobe, and Orascom Construction.

Scatec is also making progress on its proposed Egypt-EU interconnector project: Earlier this month, Egypt’s Cabinet approved an agreement with Scatec to conduct a feasibility study for its planned 3 GW electricity interconnector which would enable the transport of clean energy from Egypt to Europe. Scatec’s planned electricity link — first proposed in February in a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly — will transmit some 3 GW of renewable power from Egypt to Europe via Italy.