An agreement for the industrial decarbonization of the Gulf of Suez was signed by the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Seasplit Technologies, and General Electric (GE) at the climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

The three organizations will evaluate the technical and financial viability of constructing 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind power in the Gulf of Suez. 

These three partners will also look into how strategic businesses in Egypt’s petroleum industry might contribute to the project’s execution. The electricity produced is anticipated to operate offshore oil and gas installations, marking a first for Africa and the Middle East. It’s also possible to feed the grid with extra energy.

“There is no doubt that this agreement will contribute to facing the challenge of climate change and is in line with the strategy of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in moving towards clean energy and benefiting from offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Suez, and the advanced solutions of GE and Seasplit Technologies,” said Tarek El Molla, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. 

According to the MOU, EGAS will help Seasplit and GE communicate with other government agencies and important stakeholders to complete preliminary work. While GE is anticipated to allow Seasplit to carry out feasibility studies to meet the necessary milestones, Seasplit will provide the technical, financial, and legal resources to evaluate, structure, and develop the project.

“Our data analysis shows that the Gulf of Suez can reach up to 10 GW of wind capacity. This ambitious, visionary announcement sets the path towards leveraging these resources to eventually transform the Gulf of Suez into a net-zero industrial zone. Moreover, the project is expected to create new localization, supply chain, and employment opportunities,” said Hussein Mesharafa, CEO of Seasplit Technologies.

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