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The European Union is looking to ramp up its use of clean energy sources and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Starting next year, those efforts could get an unexpected boost from one of Africa’s oil behemoths.
A new agreement between Sonangol, Angola’s state-owned energy giant, and German engineering firms Conjuncta and Gauff Engineering could unleash an influx of clean hydrogen imports to the European market.
Under the deal, Sonangol is building a green hydrogen plant along Angola’s Atlantic coast that will produce some 280,000 tons of green ammonia per year.
The liquid substance enables long-distance transport of green energy sources like hydrogen, including future intercontinental deliveries from Angola.
When the plant opens in 2024, Sonangol will become the first company in sub-Saharan Africa to export green hydrogen to Europe.
The collaboration comes as the European Union intensifies efforts to swap fossil fuel-based energy for sustainable alternatives that spew far lower volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Dangerous greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are rapidly heating the planet and giving rise to severe weather events across the globe, including historic wildfires and flooding in Europe.
The world as a whole experienced its hottest summer on record this year.
To blunt the effects of climate change, EU leaders are aiming to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and they’ve identified hydrogen as an important step toward achieving the bloc’s climate goals.
Hydrogen is a clean fuel that produces only water when consumed in a fuel cell, per the US Department of Energy, making it an attractive fuel alternative for transportation and electricity generation.
Green hydrogen, derived from renewable energy sources, is a relatively new but increasingly popular option. — Business Insider Africa
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