Investing in the future of energy: green hydrogen

Honorable Counsellor/ Olaf Schultz

 Federal Chancellor of Germany

Your Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses,

At the outset, I would like to thank you for being here today at this important meeting, and I would also like to thank His Excellency Chancellor Olaf Scholter, Federal Chancellor of Germany, for co-chairing this table, which deals with one of the most important issues in the context of confronting climate change, perhaps the most important of all, It is an investment in the future of energy, specifically in green hydrogen.

Perhaps you will agree with me that the term “green hydrogen” may have become more common and used during the past few years in the context of talking about the transition towards renewable energy and reducing dependence on traditional energy sources, especially since the energy crisis that the world is going through at the present time has imposed a real challenge on us all. In securing the energy supplies our countries need, without prejudice to our duties towards facing the global climate crisis or retreating from the goals we agreed upon and the national policies through which we contribute to this effort.

Here, green hydrogen comes as one of the most prominent solutions in terms of moving towards a green economy in the coming years, as it represents a real opportunity for economic development in line with efforts to confront climate change and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

In fact, many countries have already begun to take serious steps in this direction, whether by formulating national hydrogen policies or by setting ambitious time targets for the gradual transition of green hydrogen as a major energy source, either through domestic production or import from abroad, or both. Egypt was one of the first of these countries that realized early on the opportunities available in this field, based on its huge potential in the production of clean energy, which will enable it to transform into a global center for green hydrogen production in the medium and long term.

In the context of a practical translation of this, and as a vivid example of the implementation principle under whose umbrella we meet today, I, today, with His Excellency the Prime Minister of Norway, are launching the first phase of the project to establish a green hydrogen production plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts in Ain Sukhna, which is a practical model for an investment partnership that stimulates sustainable economic development Which is based, in addition to the role of governments, on the national and foreign private sector to work hand in hand in this fruitful sector, and we will have the opportunity today to learn about all aspects of this project from the implementing companies that participate with us in this dialogue.

Your Excellency

As we have agreed that frankness and openness are the only ways for us to move forward, in a coordinated manner, towards our common goals, let me tell you some of our concerns here in Egypt and in other friendly developing countries:

First: Despite the opportunities offered by the hydrogen sector, which are already being translated into projects in many countries, according to the International Energy Agency, the share of developing countries from these proposed projects has exceeded only two projects out of about 680 proposed projects in the field of green hydrogen at the global level. The world, and then it becomes clear that developing countries remain less able to take advantage of the opportunities represented by the shift towards green hydrogen at an accelerating pace, due to the weakness of their technological capabilities in this new field, and the absence of the infrastructure necessary for transportation and storage and the creation of supply chains necessary for safe trade, as well as for weak flows of Funding and investments directed towards it in a sustainable manner.

Second: that even in the few cases in which developing countries can take firm steps in this field, such as Egypt, for example, they still have to face the challenge resulting from some countries’ tendency to support local green hydrogen producers in a way that reduces the cost of their production, which causes This leads to disruption in the global hydrogen market and contributes to weakening the competitiveness of green hydrogen produced in developing countries compared to its counterparts in developed countries.

Your Excellency

What prompts me to raise these concerns to you is my confidence that our dialogue today must come out with clear operational steps that we all agree on, leading us to effective mechanisms and solutions that push us towards achieving our common goals in the energy transition.

From this point of view, and in line with the principle of implementation that we focus on at this summit, allow me to announce from here a new initiative that Egypt and Belgium have worked on during the past months in coordination with a number of partners. Today, I am pleased, in partnership with His Excellency Mr. Alexandre de Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, to announce the launch of the “Global Renewable Hydrogen Forum” initiative, which aims to create a permanent platform for dialogue between hydrogen producing and consuming countries, and with the private sector, organizations and financing institutions working in this The field, with the aim of coordinating policies and procedures and creating corridors for trade and investment in hydrogen, in a way that contributes to accelerating the pace of the just transition to which we all aspire.

In conclusion, and in light of the fact that this table brings together some of the major hydrogen-producing and consuming countries and heads of organizations and companies working in this sector, I look forward to a purposeful, fruitful and constructive discussion in which we will listen to different trends and opinions, and learn through it the best practices and accumulated experiences, and I am confident that we will Today we will come out with a better understanding of the nature of the issue and more awareness of the amount of work that we have to do in this framework to achieve what we aspire to.

Thank you and I look forward to more speech

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