Anticipated Green Hydrogen Venture in Angola: Expected First Financiing Instance in 2025
In a keynote speech at Africa Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2024, Vladimir Machado, the R&D CEO of Sonangol, highlighted Angola's potential in the rapidly growing green hydrogen market.
Angola's green hydrogen export market is currently in an early but promising phase, anchored by projects like the Barra do Dande Green Hydrogen Project. This initiative, developed through partnerships between Angola’s Sonangol and international firms such as GAUFF Engineering, Conjuncta GmbH, and CWP Global, leverages Angola’s surplus renewable energy and aims to build local value chains and skilled jobs.
The Barra do Dande project, which began in 2021, recently expanded its consortium membership in October 2024, indicative of growing investor interest and momentum.
Machado emphasised that Africa will have opportunities to dominate the value chain of green hydrogen. He pointed to the European Union's ambitious green hydrogen targets and Germany's H2Global program as potential opportunities for Africa to secure a leading position.
High-energy-demanding industries like steel, aviation, and textiles will progressively shift toward green hydrogen, making it an essential component in transitioning to a carbon-free economy. Green hydrogen has direct applications in industry and serves as an excellent means for energy storage, especially to support periods of high energy demand.
The Angola green hydrogen project, led by Sonangol, CWP, Gauff Engineering, and Conjuncta, is expected to make a Final Investment Decision in 2025. The project aims to produce 400,000 tons of green hydrogen annually, with production scheduled to begin in 2027.
Moreover, the project includes plans for a demonstration plant to serve as a training ground for future engineers. This initiative not only contributes to Angola's green hydrogen production but also fosters local capacity building and skilled jobs.
However, challenges remain in ensuring economic fairness in pricing and in creating robust local industrial ecosystems to capture more value within Angola. Transparent pricing mechanisms, local capacity building, and stable investment conditions are crucial for Angola to realise its full potential as a green hydrogen exporter.
Angola's strategic focus includes coupling green hydrogen development with its broader energy sector reforms and initiatives to boost natural gas and oil production, reflecting an integrated energy transition approach.
In conclusion, Angola's emergence as a green hydrogen exporter presents significant opportunities for both the African continent and the global market. The future potential depends on transparent pricing mechanisms, local capacity building, and stable investment conditions.
Financing from international firms and partnerships between Angola's Sonangol and these companies are crucial for advancing the green hydrogen industry in Angola.
The growing investor interest and momentum, as shown by the expansion of the Barra do Dande project consortium, indicates that the renewable-energy sector, specifically green hydrogen, has a promising future in Angola's economy.
