Poland’s Hynfra to build green ammonia plant in Egypt

Reuters/Victoria Klesty

• Plant to supply EU countries
• $1.6bn needed for first phase
• Part of Egypt’s hydrogen strategy

Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones is linking up with Polish energy company Hynfra to build a green ammonia plant.

The facility will produce ammonia for export from Egypt to the European Union, the GAFI and Hynfra said in a joint statement. It will require an investment of $1.6 billion in its first phase. 

In an email to AGBI, a Hynfra spokesperson said the initial phase would be complete by 2030 and produce between 100,000 and 400,000 tonnes of ammonia a year.

The plant’s developers are aiming for 1 million tonnes of green ammonia a year when the facility is complete. This will require investment of $10.6 billion.

The plant will run on solar and wind energy and “surplus electricity generated will support Egypt’s national grid”, according to the GAFI.

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No information was given on financing sources or the binding nature of the agreement. The Hynfra spokesperson said this “stems from the fact that the project is soon to enter an investment process and we are bound by confidentiality agreements”.

Hynfra is planning to construct five green ammonia plants in various countries to serve Central and Eastern Europe. Over the past two years, it has signed non-binding memorandums of understanding and letters of intent to build in Jordan, Mauritania and Ukraine.

Egypt is targeting $60 billion of investment over the coming decades as it attempts to become a global centre for green hydrogen and green ammonia.

Its national hydrogen strategy, released in August, has set a target to capture between 5 and 8 percent of the global tradeable hydrogen market by 2040. This would increase Egypt’s GDP by between $10 billion and $18 billion.

Saudi green energy company Acwa Power is reportedly closing in on a financial agreement to build a green ammonia plant in Egypt. 

The plant is expected to be up and running by 2028 and to produce 600,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year. This would make it the second-largest facility of its kind after Acwa’s $8.5 billion Neom Green Hydrogen project.

Acwa intends to invest $15 billion in Egypt over the next six years.