Jordan inks an agreement with Amarenco and H2 Global Energy for EUR 9 bn green hydrogen project

More green hydrogen on deck for Jordan: Jordan has signed an agreement with Irish-based renewables developer Amarenco and Zurich-based green hydrogen company H2 Global Energy for the development of a EUR 9 bn green ammonia generation project in the kingdom, Zawya Projects reported on Friday. A timeline on when the project is expected to become operational has not been provided yet.

The details: The facility will produce 1 mn metric tons of green ammonia annually, powered by 4.5 GW of renewables-powered electrolyzer capacity. Green hydrogen will serve as feedstock for the generation of higher amounts of green ammonia, similar to InterContinental Energy’s green hydrogen project in Oman which will use 1.8 mn tons of green hydrogen to produce up to 10 mn tons of green ammonia each year.

The agreement comes as the ministry announces completion of its hydrogen roadmap: Jordan has officially completed its green hydrogen and ammonia roadmap after months of preparation. Once launched, Jordan plans to lure in significant investments from its green fuels sector under plans to become a global exporter of green hydrogen and ammonia, Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources said in an energy conference in Istanbul on Thursday.

Jordan has been courting green fuels developers: Aside from the Amarenco partnership, Jordan signed three other MoUs with Jordan’s Kawar Energy, Philadelphia Solar, and the German renewables firm Enertrag to carry out feasibility studies for potential green hydrogen projects in the kingdom. Under the agreements, Jordan aims to generate 100k tons of green ammonia per year with Kawar Energy, 100k to 200k tons with Philadelphia Solar, and 200k tons with Enertag.

More deals in the making: Five pre-agreed MoUs are set to be formally signed at COP28 later this month, paving the way for companies to conduct one-year preliminary feasibility studies for new green hydrogen projects in the country. Last month, Jordan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry signed an MoU with Jordan Green Ammonia — a JV established in June to work on a green ammonia plant in the kingdom’s Aqaba Special Economic Zone — to conduct feasibility studies on developing green hydrogen projects in the country. Kharabsheh said that 12 unnamed companies have expressed interest in signing agreements with the ministry on green hydrogen, adding that the kingdom plans to release its green hydrogen strategy.

REMEMBER- Jordan plans to update its 2030 renewable energy plans with more ambitious targets by the end of this year or early next year by the latest. While Jordan had set out a target to reach 30% from clean energy by 2030, it has already managed to hit 27% renewables in the country’s energy mix. In fact, some officials had previously signaled that Jordan’s clean energy could comprise up to 50% of electricity generation as soon as 2030.