The Government of Mauritania, through the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines & Energy, and Chariot, an Africa-focused transitional energy company, are pleased to announce that the Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for the large green hydrogen project “Project Nour” in Mauritania has been completed and a Framework Agreement has been signed, outlining the next phases of development.
- The PFS indicates that Mauritania is especially well-suited for the production of green hydrogen due to its world-class solar and wind resources, and the project has the potential to produce some of the cheapest green hydrogen in the world.
- Project Nour could become one of the world’s largest green hydrogen projects by 2030, if up to 10 GW of electrolysis is constructed.
- Unique and complementary wind and solar conditions in Mauritania support the economic viability of proposed projects.
- With its closeness to major European markets, Mauritania has the potential to become one of the world’s leading producers and exporters of green hydrogen and its byproducts. Recently, Chariot secured a partnership deal with the Port of Rotterdam for the selling of green hydrogen and its derivatives across Europe.
- Project Nour and the entire value chain are intended to prioritize value development in-country.
- Domestic benefits for Mauritania include providing baseload power to the national grid, diversifying industrial operations (e.g., green steel), boosting job development, and constructing local infrastructure that might have a substantial impact on GDP.
- The Framework Agreement outlines the terms and guiding principles that will pave the path for the in-depth feasibility assessment to be conducted over the next 24 months.
- With the intention of forming a world-class consortium, a partnership procedure is now underway.
H.E Minister Abdessalam Ould Mohamed Saleh of Mauritania’s Ministry of Petroleum, Mines & Energy, commented: “We are very pleased that the PFS has confirmed the world class potential of Project Nour, both in its unique capacity to generate green hydrogen and for the broader development opportunities that it could bring to Mauritania. It is exciting to be looking to harness our natural resources in this way and Chariot has our full support as they progress this through the detailed feasibility studies.”
Adonis Pouroulis, Acting CEO of Chariot, said: “Green hydrogen is a strategic priority for Chariot and will form a substantial part of the global energy transition going forward. We also believe that progressing this project will result in significant investment in Mauritania and benefit the region as a whole. The results of the PFS have underlined our belief in the economics and scale of this asset. Project Nour has the potential to be one of the key sources of green energy of the future with the opportunity to deliver a wide range of positive impacts and we are delighted to be partnering with the Government to help realize its ambition to become a world leader in the production and export of this valuable resource.”
