1.1 billion.. Suez Canal signs a memorandum of understanding to supply ships with green fuel

Today, Sunday, December 3, 2023, the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Scatenk ASA to supply ships with green fuel, on the sidelines of the authority’s participation in the activities of the COP28 climate summit.

According to the authority’s statement, the memorandum was signed by the head of the authority, Walid Gamal El-Din, the head of the technical office of the Minister of Petroleum, Eng. Alaa Hajar, and the CEO of SCATEC ASA, Terbe Bielskog.

Objectives of the memorandum

The memorandum aims to issue a license to practice ship bunkering with green fuel for SCATEC in the East Port Said region, at a cost of $1.1 billion (including investments in clean energy generation), and the production volume will reach 100 thousand tons of green methanol annually by 2027, and the capacity of the electrolyzer will reach 100 thousand tons of green methanol annually by 2027. 190 megawatts, relying on 317 megawatts of wind energy and 140 megawatts of solar energy.

In this context, Walid Gamal El-Din pointed out the importance of the East Port Said area as the destination for this project due to its location north of the Suez Canal, and it is integrated with the ports of East and West Port Said, and therefore located near the ship waiting areas.

He stressed that supplying ships with green fuel is not a goal in itself, but rather an inevitable global requirement, especially since maritime shipping is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions in the world. Therefore, the use of green fuel in maritime transport will significantly impact the reduction of carbon emissions.

Memorandum of understanding

Walid Jamal Al-Din discussed with a number of representatives of ACWA Power the means of activating the memorandum of understanding signed with the company and accelerating

Also discussed with Kim Fejjfer, managing partner and CEO of A.P. Moller Capital, which specializes in fund management, aspects of future cooperation between the two sides, especially in the field of financing green fuel projects.

Walid Jamal Al-Din explained that green fuel projects need financing to accelerate the pace of work, and investors in these projects need to reduce the cost of production and operation to obtain the best prices for the final product.

Walid Gamal El-Din held a meeting with George Weber, a member of the Executive Board of Directors of Willow SE, a manufacturer of pump systems based in Dortmund, Germany, and they discussed the possibility of cooperation, as the water pump industry is of great importance in feeding national projects, according to the statement.

Economic zone

During the meeting, Walid Jamal Al-Din reviewed the potential of the economic zone through the industrial zones that can host this industry, the logistics zones that contribute to facilitating the transportation and storage of products, and the ports that overlook the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and allow access to various global markets, especially African markets.

The General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone also participated in a session entitled “Green Hydrogen...from Advertising to Investment,” inside the Egyptian Pavilion in the Blue Zone to discuss ways to support government actors and international institutions for green fuel projects through legislation and financing.

The session touched on the economic zone’s keenness to provide the necessary infrastructure to establish these projects and work on an investment incentive package dedicated to green energy projects to encourage investment. It also touched on the importance of financial and legislative support for green economy activities, according to the statement.