GH2 Calls for Innovative Financing to Support Green Hydrogen Investments in Egypt
The Global Hydrogen Organization (GH2) has called for urgent action to unlock innovative financing tools and build stronger demand for green hydrogen in Egypt and the wider MENA region. The call was made during the 2025 Cairo Regional Forum on Financing Renewables, Green Hydrogen, and Green Ammonia, organized by the GH2 International Green Hydrogen Centre of Excellence at Nile University in Giza.
GH2 is a non-profit foundation aiming to accelerate the production and use of green hydrogen across a range of sectors as a cornerstone of the energy transition. “Our mission is to help the large-scale green hydrogen economy grow faster here in Egypt,” said Jonas Moberg, CEO of GH2, highlighting GH2’s role and participation in the two-day Forum.
Throughout the forum, energy industry leaders, bankers, and financial institutions addressed the challenges facing the energy sector to grow faster, both in Egypt and globally.
Despite more than 30 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed in Egypt in recent years, few projects have advanced beyond the feasibility studies phase. This is not the case only in Egypt, only 4% of renewable hydrogen and ammonia projects globally have reached final investment decision, according to GH2. Large-scale projects require enormous financing and long implementation timelines, often 15 to 20 years, making them risky and costly for international banks or financial institutions. Over such extended timelines, shifts in global demand, trade prices, and off-taker (buyer) commitments can threaten project returns.
GH2 CEO Jonas Moberg told Egypt Oil and Gas that renewables and green projects “are coming, and their role is becoming evident to everyone, but it is a step-by-step process. We are optimistic that we are moving in the right direction, though perhaps not as fast as we wish.”
However, making these large projects work can be problematic, according to Moberg, who added that these projects need more support, like introducing carbon taxation on oil and gas, rendering them more expensive because they would have to account for their emissions. That, in turn, would narrow the price gap and let green hydrogen compete on a fairer footing in the market.
While Egypt has not yet adopted carbon taxation, the government is prioritizing medium-sized green energy projects as a more practical step in the meantime.
For GH2 Deputy CEO Joe Williams, the key to Egypt’s hydrogen future lies in integrating it into the local economy. “Egypt is one of Africa’s largest steelmakers. There is a huge opportunity there,” Williams said, pointing to the potential of integrating green hydrogen into the sector. He also noted that fertilizers deserve similar attention.
Once the target customers and off-takers are identified, not only for green hydrogen or ammonia themselves, but also for the agricultural products made with them, then a reliable customer base is established, one that may be willing to pay the higher cost of green-based products over the traditional fossil-based ones.
To further support this approach, William argued that creative financing, such as equity bridge loans, which provide developers (investors) with short-term capital to start construction before longer-term funding is secured, will be crucial to reduce the risks of implementing green hydrogen projects and bridge the cost gap with grey hydrogen (produced from fossil fuels).
In Egypt, developers struggle with the high cost of borrowing money. Interest rates are around 16–18%, compared to just 4–6% in Europe or North America, according to GH2. This means that even though Egypt can produce solar and wind power rather cheaply, as little as 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, the heavy cost of paying back loans offsets that advantage.
A second problem is the electricity grid. A $5–6 billion plan to expand the transmission network has yet to move forward, and the fees for using the grid remain unclear. Developers also lack certainty about who controls transmission rights or whether they can secure dedicated power corridors.
On paper, Egypt has made vast amounts of land available for renewables, enough to generate 180 gigawatts of clean power. But the grid today can only handle about 36 gigawatts, and the storage capacity is capped at 60 gigawatt-hours.
The forum included 15 sessions that touched on several topics, including fast-tracking MoUs into final investment decision deals, overcoming financial burdens, land allocations, energy corridors, power bottlenecks, and decarbonizing heavy industries.
The event was supported by the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) initiative aimed at helping industries shift toward greener practices, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Egypt), and its outcomes will feed directly into regional preparations for COP30.