TotalEnergies, Eren Group, and Austrian utility Verbund have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tunisian government to build a gigawatt-scale green hydrogen production facility. Called H2 Notos, this new project should allow Tunisia to export 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen to Europe in 2030.
The construction of the SouthH2 gas pipeline, which would connect Tunisia and Algeria to Italy, Austria, and Germany is stimulating the export desires of certain North African countries which see it as an opportunity to become strong players in the production of green hydrogen.
Projects not devoid of merit, insofar as, taking into account the EU’s needs for green hydrogen, SouthH2 has been listed as a project of common interest by the European Commission and is eligible for accelerated authorization to make available European subsidies. As a result, its commissioning is planned shortly (compared to other current projects), since it is planned for 2030.
1.6 million tonnes of green H2 supplied to the EU by North African countries by 2040
With an eventual capacity of more than four million tonnes of green hydrogen, this “hydrogen pipeline” should see 1.6 million tonnes of green H2 supplied by North African countries pass through by 2040. Tunisia hopes to contribute 200,000 tonnes by 2030 and 300,000 tonnes by 2040.
But to do this, it must accelerate the implementation of its green hydrogen roadmap. Indeed, if the new Tunisian national strategy has set an annual production objective of 8.3 million tonnes by 2050, of which 6.3 million tonnes will be exported; operational implementation is slow.
H2 Notos must produce one million tonnes of green hydrogen
It is in this context that the Tunisian State signed a preliminary agreement with a joint venture supported by TotalEnergies and Verbund for a gigawatt-scale project which could, from 2030, provide 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year to destination Europe, then one million tonnes in the optimized exploitation phase.
Named H2 Notos, the new production plant will rely on electrolyzers using desalinated seawater powered by wind and terrestrial solar energy.
Tunisia will have to accelerate on green hydrogen
Beyond this export desire, Tunisia intends to use green hydrogen on its domestic market, in particular, to produce ammonia for its fertilizer industry (currently extremely dependent on imported NH3). The government fertilizer producer GCT plans, moreover, to install a pilot project for converting green hydrogen into ammonia in the coastal town of Gabès during this decade. This installation would produce 220 tonnes of H2, 70% of which would be intended for the manufacture of NH 3.
If H2 Notos suddenly makes visible Tunisia’s ambitions around green hydrogen, recently translated into the implementation of a national strategy; However, the country will have to get active on the subject if it wants to obtain results that match its ambitions!
Indeed, the regulatory framework for the definition and use of green hydrogen is not completely defined to date. Additionally, while Morocco or Egypt, for example, have implemented some tax incentives to boost green hydrogen production; Tunisia is only considering this hypothesis.
