At the sidelines of COP27 events, Israeli firm H2Pro and Moroccan renewable energy developer Gaia Energy announced the signing of a strategic agreement to develop green hydrogen production facilities in the North African country.
Gaia will use a range of 10-20 MW-scale H2Pro electrolyzer systems for a demo project, while exploring in parallel the use of the latter's technology in a gigawatt-scale system currently being developed by Gaia in Morocco.
The announcement comes amid critical dialogues at the COP27 sessions on green hydrogen and its critical role in the net-zero transition, featuring heavily in both official negotiations and side events.
Green hydrogen has become widely accepted both as a key tool for decarbonizing hard to abate sectors and as a clean molecule for storage and transport of renewable energy.
"Morocco, and the MENA region at large, are poised to lead the world in the clean energy transition by making use of our abundance of renewable resources and becoming a green hydrogen hub. By combining the power of Gaia's renewable energy assets with H2Pro's efficient and cost-effective green hydrogen production technology, we bring Morocco and our region one step closer to this vision," said Moundir Zniber, CEO of Gaia Energy.
"At the Gigawatt-scale level, we bolster Morocco's profile as a serious player in the green hydrogen space," he added.
The theme of cross-border cooperation over climate action is also a star topic on the agenda of COP27. H2Pro exhibited in Israel's pavilion at a UN climate conference, and claims to promote regional cooperation and aspirations of the MENA region.
"Climate change is the greatest challenge facing our generation, and it can only be solved by reaching across borders with seamless coordination between the private and public sector", said Talmon Marco, CEO of H2Pro.
He continued, "We chose COP27 as the platform for launching H2Pro and Gaia's partnership because this moment is not merely an achievement of two private companies, but rather a milestone in Moroccan-Israeli relations. It demonstrates the triumph of regional cooperation over climate change and is a clear indicator of the key role innovation plays in diplomacy. We're proud today to be working with Gaia Energy to take our region to new heights as it assumes its leadership role in the clean energy transition."
Gaia Energy is championing the large-scale renewable energy market in Africa. It is one of the first local companies to develop large-scale renewable energy projects in the region, with prevalence in more than 10 countries and a pipeline of 6 GW of projects under development.
The Moroccan company is also developing several projects to convert renewable energies to green hydrogen and green ammonia, with a pipeline of 8 projects for a total capacity of 40 GW around the continent.
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