Uganda and French independent power producer HDF Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly establish a green hydrogen power facility in Uganda.
The capacity of the facility and the scope of the investment were not specified in the announcement jointly released by HDF Energy and Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
But if the proposal materializes, it would be Uganda’s first hydrogen power plant, which is anxious to increase its generation capacity, particularly in renewable energy. Currently, Uganda relies on hydroelectric and thermal power plants. The MoU was signed during the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, by Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, the minister of energy for Uganda, and Nicolas Lecomte, HDF’s director for southern and eastern Africa.
According to the release, “This MoU helps pave the path for the establishment of the first renewable power plant in Uganda.” One of the two hydrogen power plant models that HDF has created is called The Renewstable. The company refers to it as a multi-megawatt plant that combines an intermittent renewable energy source, like solar panels, and on-site energy storage in the form of hydrogen to create stable electricity continuously throughout the day.
The business anticipates that the first green hydrogen power plant in Africa, which will cost $181.3 million, would start generating electricity in Namibia by 2024. When hydrogen is produced using a sustainable energy source, it is referred to as “green” hydrogen.
