Rabat – Morocco has launched the African Green Hydrogen Alliance to increase access to clean and affordable energy along with Mauritania, Egypt, Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa.
The Green Hydrogen Organization reported that the six African countries officially launched the alliance on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Green Hydrogen Global Assembly in Barcelona.
The alliance opts to foster collaboration between its founding members to advance green hydrogen development in the respective countries. It also calls for adopting regulatory and policy reforms, building local capacities, and encouraging investments in green hydrogen production to meet domestic needs.
Commenting on the initiative, Jonas Moberg, CEO of the Green Hydrogen Organization, underlined the necessity of green hydrogen in the African energy transition. He emphasized that the relatively clean alternative “must provide energy for Africa’s growing population and industrial needs [and] offer a major export opportunity for the continent.”
Moberg further called for coordination between governments, the private sector, banks, experts, and civil society actors to reduce hydrogen production costs and accelerate electrolysis. This scientific process uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen to produce carbon-free hydrogen.
Read Also: Morocco, UNIDO Sign Two Declarations on Decarbonization, Green Hydrogen
UN Climate Change High-Level Champions from the UK and Egypt Nigel Topping and Mahmoud Mohieldin echoed Moberg’s statements. They noted Africa’s potential in becoming “a frontrunner in this burgeoning green hydrogen industry, creating zero-emission jobs, domestic energy supplies and export revenues fit for a decarbonized future.”
The African Green Hydrogen Alliance received the support of the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, the Green Hydrogen Organization, the African Development Bank, and the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
As the alliance members are developing their renewable energy programs, they are among the frontrunners for green energy in the region.
Morocco, for instance, remains a net energy importer. Yet, it has the potential to emerge as a global supplier of clean hydrogen by 2030, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
However, the low rate of technological innovation in the country – associated with low research and development funds and grants – represents a burden on the Moroccan green hydrogen roadmap that seeks to supply the national market with 4 terawatt-hours and the international market with 10 terawatt-hours by 2030.
