Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi announced that Egypt is developing attractive incentive packages to accelerate green hydrogen investments, positioning the country as a key player in the global hydrogen economy. Egypt aims for an 8% share of the global hydrogen market, planning to reach an annual production capacity of around 10 million tons in coming decades.
Badawi made the remarks during his keynote speech at the opening ministerial session of the fourth Oman Green Hydrogen Summit in Muscat, organized by the Omani Ministry of Energy and Minerals in cooperation with Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom). He highlighted Egypt's competitive advantages, including its strategic geographic location in the Middle East, its role as a natural bridge to Africa, and its strong energy interconnections with Europe, such as existing grid linkage projects with Cyprus and Greece.
The minister stressed the pivotal role of the Suez Canal—poised to become a major route for global hydrogen supply chains—and the Suez Canal Economic Zone, which already hosts infrastructure suited for renewable energy projects, green industries, and green bunkering services. Achieving Egypt's hydrogen ambitions will require deep partnerships with global technology providers and long-term off-take agreements.
Egypt is keen to strengthen cooperation with Oman, which has made notable progress in its hydrogen sector, to adopt best practices and broaden knowledge and technology exchange. While Oman is emerging as a key regional hub serving Asian hydrogen markets, Egypt is positioning itself as a primary gateway for supplying hydrogen to Europe.
Among the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources' six strategic pillars advancing Egypt's hydrogen vision, Badawi cited the production of green ammonia at the MOPCO complex in Damietta, in collaboration with Norway's Scatec and Yara. He added that continued acceleration of oil and gas exploration and production provides a strong platform for entering the low-carbon hydrogen market—produced from conventional fuels during the energy transition—alongside expanding green hydrogen initiatives powered by renewable energy.
In the mining sector, the strategy focuses on optimizing the use of critical and rare minerals essential for renewable energy technologies and hydrogen production. Egypt is rapidly implementing its national plan to raise the share of renewable energy in the domestic electricity mix to 42% by 2030, supported by vast desert areas and strong solar and wind resources, which will free up natural gas for higher-value industrial uses.
Badawi concluded by underscoring the importance of regional and international cooperation in building a competitive green hydrogen industry and reducing future production costs. On the sidelines of the summit, he and his Omani counterpart inaugurated the accompanying exhibition, featuring the latest technologies and solutions across the global hydrogen value chain.