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Fund eyes Middle East hydrogen projects

28 February 2024

 

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Paris-based hydrogen investor Hy24 is looking to expand its portfolio in the Middle East and North Africa region, following its investment in Green Energy Oman (GEO) and a joint development and investment agreement with Abu Dhabi's Masdar.

"We are looking to invest in project developers like we did with the GEO project," Amir Sharifi, Hy24's chief investment officer, tells MEED on the sidelines of the ongoing World Hydrogen Mena forum in Dubai. 

Last year, Hy24 and Singapore's GIC committed a total of $115m equity investment in Intercontinental Energy, which leads the consortium developing the GEO project in Oman.

"We are looking and would like to invest in green hydrogen project developers across the region, including in the UAE, Oman and Morocco," Sharifi said.

Hy24 is a 50/50 joint venture of French private investment firm Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen, a clean hydrogen investment platform.

Launched in 2021, Hy24's founding anchor investors are Air Liquide, Vinci Concessions, TotalEnergies, Plug Power, Chart Industries and Baker Hughes.

In October 2022, Hy24 announced the closing of its Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund with a total of €2bn ($2.16bn) of allocations.

In December last year, Hy24 signed a joint development and investment framework agreement with Masdar to foster large-scale green hydrogen projects.

The firms agreed on a framework to explore developing and investing in projects along the so-called Power-to-X value chain in key regional hubs across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Mena.

The agreement involves producing renewable power converted via electrolysers into green hydrogen and its derivatives, such as green ammonia, e-methanol, sustainable aviation fuel and liquid hydrogen.

At the time, the firms said that the Hy24-managed Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure Fund expects co-investment and co-development opportunities to be made available to Masdar, representing up to €2bn of investments in the next five years.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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