TotalEnergies and CIP eye gigascale Moroccan wind and solar for green hydrogen
Consortium also including EREN group signs preliminary land reservation deal for project planned as first step towards renewable H2 hub
A TotalEnergies-led group and Danish financiers Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and A.P. Møller Capital have teamed up for a project near Morocco’s Atlantic coast aiming to tap into 1GW of onshore solar and wind to produce green hydrogen for the European market.
The partners signed a preliminary contract for land reservation for the ‘Chbika’ project, which will allow them to launch pre-FEED (front-end engineering design) studies.
The project in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region is slated to use desalinated seawater to transform the renewable power into green hydrogen via electrolysis and then into 200,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year that can be exported.
“This agreement is part of our strategy to develop production in countries with the most competitive renewable resources, such as Morocco,” TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said at the signing of the agreement in the presence of Moroccan King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Thanks to its geographical proximity and the quality of its wind and solar resources, Morocco indeed has the best assets to become a major partner for Europe in achieving the goals of the [EU’s] Green Deal, and TotalEnergies aims to contribute to this ambition.”
The companies didn’t say how much of the renewable energy capacity will come from wind and what volume will be solar power.
“Morocco stands at the forefront of the global energy transition, equipped with all the essential fundamentals to emerge as a key partner for Europe and the world in achieving net zero targets,” CIP partner Philip Christiani said.
The project will constitute the first phase of a development programme aimed at creating a world-scale green hydrogen production hub, CIP added.
David Corchia, CEO of TE H2, added: “The signing of this Preliminary Contract for Land Reservation is a decisive first step for the launch of our investment programme in Morocco.
“The Kingdom has the potential to supply affordable and clean energy to Europe while serving its own decarbonized industrial development.
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