UK headquartered and Africa focused oil and gas company Chariot Limited plans to set up a green hydrogen development project with up to 10 GW capacity in Africa's Mauritania, for which it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines & Energy.
Project Nour, as it has been christened, is proposed to generate solar and wind energy to be used for electrolysis to split water to produce green hydrogen and oxygen. Chariot will assess wind and solar energy potential for the project, along with conducting feasibility studies for its environmental, macroeconomic and social impact.
The administration has given exclusivity over some 14,400 km² onshore and offshore area to Project Nour to carry out pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.
According to Chariot, this project has the potential to make Mauritania the cheapest green hydrogen producer in Africa. The African nation would also become one of the world's main producers and exporters of green hydrogen and its derivative products 'close to potential large European markets'.
"This is a potential large new market, set to bring multiple benefits to all parties and deliver positive impact to Mauritania," said Chariot's Acting CEO Adonis Pouroulis and added that the company is open to forming a 'world-class consortium' to bring the project to fruition. It will continue to provide updates regarding its near-term pre-feasibility study and beyond.
News of this project comes close on the heels of a large scale solar and wind energy project proposed for another African nation, Morocco. Xlinks wants to develop a 10.6 GW solar and wind energy project in Morocco out of which 3.6 GW would be supplied to Great Britain via sea route (see 3.6 GW RE From Morocco To Great Britain).