'Make green iron and steel from hydrogen and export them to Europe', EU president tells Mauritania
Ursula von der Leyen was in the North African state yesterday for talks on renewable H2
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On a visit to the presidential palace in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, she told President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani: “As you have said, Mauritania is blessed with resources, that is space, sun and wind. With the right investment and infrastructure, this country can harness over 350GW of renewable energy only from wind and sun. But that is not all.
“Mauritania is also Africa's second largest iron producer. The majority of your iron is exported as raw ore. But if we have clean energy coming into the game, the processing into green steel could stay here in Mauritania. And that is a huge step because this is the added value. This is where the jobs are. This is where the prosperity is.
“In fact, you could export iron and premium green steel. The technology works but, as I said, the production of green steel needs an essential input and that is green hydrogen. And that is why hydrogen is so important for Mauritania but also for Europe, so we share the interests. It would be a source of revenue domestically and an export product, for example to the European Union.”
Von der Leyen also suggested to the president and six of his ministers that EU money from its €300bn ($323bn) Global Gateway fund might also be made available to support such investments, including the construction of a new high-voltage power transmission line, and “new road infrastructure” between the capital city and the port of Nouadhibou.
She added that “demand for Mauritania’s green hydrogen and potentially green steel will set to grow exponentially in the European single market” and that the EU could help build the required infrastructure and train the local workforce.
“It is a win-win-win situation,” she concluded. “And we should join forces because the project is fascinating.”
President Ghazouani told von der Leyen: “It is well established that our country has abundant renewable energy resources, wind and solar energy, which are almost unique in their quality and integrity, as well as large reserves of iron and magnetite that are easy to enrich and particularly approved for the production of green steel.
“This enormous potential should serve as the basis for strong, dynamic and mutually beneficial energy co-operation between Mauritania and the European Union.”
However, the then Mauritanian energy minister Abdessalam Mohamed Saleh said last March: “Our country is determined to play a leading position on the global map of the green hydrogen economy in the coming decades. We strongly believe that the development of the green hydrogen industry in Mauritania will bring environmental, economic and social benefits to our country and the world.”
Mauritania only had 122MW of renewable energy installed at the 2022, according to Irena figures, but there are several 10GW-plus green hydrogen projects planned in the country that would require vast amounts of new wind and solar power.