One isn’t enough: A group of state-owned companies are looking to set up a second plant for producing green fuel in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), Asharq Business reported yesterday, citing two sources it said have knowledge of the matter. The consortium, which includes Helwan Fertilizers, Abu Qir Fertilizers, and the National Bank of Egypt’s investment arm Al Ahly Capital Holding, are already working on a USD 2.6 bn green methanol plant in Ain Sokhna and now have their eyes on a green ammonia project, according to the news outlet.

What we know:

  • Asharq reports that the proposed project would require USD 1.2 bn of investment, 70% of which would be financed by bank loans and the remainder from the companies’ cash reserves.
  • Construction is expected to start by the end of 2025 and take three years to complete.
  • The project is being undertaken by Misr Methanol and Petrochemicals, a joint venture established by the three companies in 2021 to manufacture methanol, ammonia, and other petrochemicals.

What we don’t: No information about the capacity of the plant was provided. We were unable to reach any of the three companies for comment yesterday.

THAT BEING SAID- There is plenty of private-sector interest in Egypt as a potential regional green fuel hub:

  • Danish shipping giant Maersk intends to make the SCZone one of its global green fuel production hubs and earlier this year signed a framework agreement to set up a green methanol facility with a production capacity of 300k tons a year.
  • Norwegian renewables developer Scatec has signaled intent to establish greenammonia and methanol plants in the SCZone.
  • A number of multinational energy firmssigned framework agreements at last year’s COP27 last year for green ammonia plants which would have a combined annual production capacity of 4.6 mn tons, though there have been no updates on any of the six projects in the 12 months since.
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