Belgium’s John Cockerill to produce green hydrogen in Morocco

Belgium’s energy firm, John Cockerill, plans to invest in green hydrogen as part of a joint venture in Morocco where they plan to manufacture key equipment to transform electricity into hydrogen at a lower cost, Afrik21 reported.

“In Morocco, John Cockerill will manufacture alkaline electrolyzers. This is the most widespread technology for the production of electrolytic hydrogen, but also for the production of numerous chemical compounds, including chlorine. It is therefore very mature in the industry,” Afrik21 wrote.

“We are honored to be able to contribute to Morocco’s energy transition in the image of the Kingdom’s great successes, particularly in the aeronautics and automotive sectors, and we are determined to establish such a local ecosystem around hydrogen technologies,” said Raphaël Tilot, John Cockeril’s executive chairman.

John Cockerill’s planned investment follows suit global companies such as Total Eren which announced a mega project to set up plants capable of transforming 10HW of clean electricity into hydrogen and green ammonia.

For that purpose, Total Eren has already obtained a 170,000 hectare site from the Moroccan government in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region.

Morocco plans to increase the share of renewable energy to 52% of its electricity mix by 2030.

As part of that effort, Morocco’s phosphates and fertilizers giant OCP said it will spend 130 billion dirhams ($12.5 billion) in its 2023-2027 development plan to switch to clean energy.

The investments would enable OCP, the world’s largest ammonia importer, to reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers as it also plans to locally develop the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia.

The international renewable energy agency IRENA cites Morocco as one of the four countries in the world with a significant potential to become exporters of green hydrogen

Morocco has a potential to supply 4% of global demand on clean hydrogen, IRENA said.