Danish GreenGo eyes giant green H2 plant in Mauritania

Danish renewables firm GreenGo plans to develop a giant renewable hydrogen project in Mauritania that could be one of the largest in the world when it reaches full capacity in the 2030s.

GreenGo's plans for the Megaton Moon project are extremely ambitious, aiming to produce 4mn t/yr of renewable hydrogen using 35GW electrolyser capacity and 60GW of wind- and solar-power generation. This would be roughly 16-18 times the size of Saudi Arabia's Neom project, the largest renewable hydrogen project to reach financial close. The 4mn t/yr of hydrogen could be turned into 18mn t/yr of ammonia, based on the plans.

The venture will be delivered in phases. Production of hydrogen and ammonia could start by 2028 "provided that the project is approved in due time", with full capacity to be reached by 2033, according to head of global Megaton development Anders Heine Jensen. An application for the project has been filed with Mauritania's energy ministry, GreenGo said.

The timeline also appears ambitious, given the plant's scale. Projects of smaller size are targeting full capacity around the same time, including the Hyrasia One venture in Kazakhstan that is envisaged to have 20GW electrolyser capacity on line by 2032.

GreenGo expects the entire Megaton complex to require more than 170,000 hectares of land (1,700km²) — an area larger than London.

Given Mauritania's location, GreenGo is probably eyeing exports to Europe, capitalising on ample solar- and wind-power generation in the country. The cost of producing renewable hydrogen in Mauritania is "half of Northern Europe, potentially lower," GreenGo chief executive Karsten Nielsen said. "The region has some of the most operator-friendly fiscal policies on the continent, as documented by a history of significant oil and gas investments by world energy majors."

The Paris-based IEA recently estimated that renewable hydrogen in Mauritania could be produced for around $2.20/kg by 2030.

Several other large renewable hydrogen projects are planned in the country, albeit none at quite the same scale as GreenGo. Multiple projects being developed in the country could help with establishing joint infrastructure such as for domestic transport and exports.

GreenGo was established in 2011 and has 75GW of renewables, battery energy storage and hydrogen projects in different stages of development, in the US, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The Mauritanian venture will be financed "through GreenGo Energy's entrenched partnership approach with Tier 1 investors in the green energy space," the company said without revealing investment estimates.

By Pamela Machado