SEFE and ACWA Power Launch Partnership for Green Hydrogen

SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi listed company ACWA Power. ACWA Power is the world's largest private desalination company, a pioneer in green hydrogen and a leading player in the energy transition. The collaboration aims to produce and supply green hydrogen to Europe and represents a significant step towards strengthening energy cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Germany.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of the German Federal Minister of Finance, Dr. Jörg Kukies, and the Saudi Minister of Energy, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power, and Dr. Egbert Laege, CEO of SEFE, formalized the agreement.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding, ACWA Power and SEFE will establish a hydrogen bridge between Saudi Arabia and Germany with the aim of supplying 200,000 tons of green hydrogen annually from 2030. ACWA Power will be the leading developer, investor and operator of green hydrogen and green ammonia production facilities. SEFE, as co-investor and main customer, will use its position as one of Europe's largest energy traders to market green hydrogen to German and European customers. This agreement will help meet Germany's growing demand for green hydrogen while providing a sustainable solution to decarbonize the economy and achieve climate targets.

Dr. Egbert Laege, CEO of SEFE, said: “This partnership reflects our core ambitions: to secure Europe's energy supply and be a driver of the energy transition. By expanding our green hydrogen portfolio and investing in local production, SEFE is able to offer solutions that enable our customers to achieve their decarbonization goals.”

Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power, commented: “This MoU with SEFE marks an important milestone for the acceleration of the green hydrogen economy in Europe.
By combining ACWA Power's proven expertise in green hydrogen production with SEFE's extensive market experience, we are creating a strong partnership to deliver significant volumes of green hydrogen to Germany and other countries - a major contribution to global decarbonization efforts.”

With a customer portfolio of 200 terawatt hours per year (TWh/a), SEFE is a strategic partner in the green hydrogen supply chain.
The company is actively developing transportation and storage infrastructures for hydrogen in Germany. Through its subsidiary GASCADE, SEFE is converting part of its 4,100-kilometer pipeline grid for hydrogen transport as part of the FLOW project. SEFE is also building the new AquaDuctus offshore hydrogen pipeline in the North Sea and developing a large-scale storage facility in Jemgum that can store up to 500 gigawatt hours of hydrogen.

The agreement expands ACWA Power's rapidly growing green hydrogen portfolio. NEOM Green Hydrogen, a joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM, will be the world's first large-scale green hydrogen plant, producing 1.2 million tons of green ammonia per year. In Uzbekistan, ACWA Power is further developing its second green hydrogen project. In the first phase, 3,000 tons of green hydrogen will be produced annually, with a planned expansion in the second phase. In addition, ACWA Power has signed letters of intent with Tunisia and Egypt to explore projects to produce and export green hydrogen to Europe via the SoutH2 Corridor.