H₂ Monthly Digest - September 2026

Focus of the Month - Africa Accelerates Hydrogen Development Through Strategic Investments and Flagship Projects

Africa's green hydrogen sector is entering a more concrete development phase, as governments, development banks and industrial partners advance projects across the continent. The African Development Bank (AfDB)¹ has awarded USD 20m in project preparation funding to four green hydrogen initiatives in Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania and Namibia, highlighting the growing role of concessional finance in de-risking early-stage investments.

Meanwhile, Mauritania² and developer CWP Global have taken a significant step forward on the large-scale Aman green hydrogen project, reinforcing the country's ambition to become a major exporter of green hydrogen and derivatives.

In South Africa, the government unveiled the first six projects³ selected under the National Green Hydrogen Programme, while the USD 5.8 billion Hive Hydrogen Coega project⁴ achieved a major milestone, bringing one of Africa's most advanced green ammonia developments closer to implementation. Beyond export-oriented megaprojects, deployment is also expanding at smaller scales.

In Kenya, construction has started on a green hydrogen facility⁵ supplying one of the country's largest coffee farms, demonstrating the potential for hydrogen applications in agriculture and decentralized energy systems.

At the same time, China's Kaishan Group signed a framework agreement with Kenya's Geothermal Development Company (GDC)⁶ to develop five geothermal blocks, creating future opportunities for combining abundant geothermal resources with green hydrogen production. According to Enerdata’s H₂ Projects Tracker, there are around 100 hydrogen projects across Africa with a combined potential size of 333 GW of electrolysers to produce around 38 Mt of green hydrogen⁷.

African projects are large projects that capitalize on local renewables to export green hydrogen derivatives, mainly to Europe. Front runners are Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, and Mauritania with 32, 11, 11 and 10 projects announced by each country respectively. The 100 MW Egypt green hydrogen and ammonia project developed by “Scatec & Fertigloble”⁸ becomes Africa’s 1^st operational project supplying ammonia to Germany.

Source(s): 1: Renewables Now, 2: Renewables Now, 3: Engineering News, 4: Engineering News, 5: Hydrogen Insight, 6: FuelCellChina, 7: Enerdata, 8: Dailynewsegypt

Proyecto Oasis (BCS Phase I) is Mexico’s first state-led green hydrogen power project, developed by CFE. The project combines a 72 MW solar PV plant, 20 MW battery storage, 20 MW electrolyser capacity, and 6 MW hydrogen fuel cells, using excess solar power to produce green hydrogen for electricity generation when solar output is unavailable. Its objective is to provide electricity to around 40,000 households.

OMV will continue developing its 140 MW green hydrogen project in Lower Austria independently after Masdar withdrew from the joint venture. The project remains supported by a EUR 450m EIB loan and is expected to produce around 23 kt of green hydrogen per year for OMV's Schwechat refinery. Commissioning is targeted for end-2027, with the hydrogen replacing fossil-based feedstocks and supporting refinery decarbonisation.

Moeve has officially launched construction of the EUR 3 billion Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley in southern Spain, which will include production hubs in Huelva and Cádiz. The project is expected to reach 300 kt/year of renewable hydrogen production, Europe’s largest hydrogen developments. Construction of the first phase started in March 2026 at Palos de la Frontera, featuring 300 MW of electrolysis capacity, expandable to 405 MW, and targeting 45-50 kt/year of green hydrogen.

Kazakhstan and South Korea are exploring a USD 2 billion green energy project aimed at developing large-scale renewable hydrogen and ammonia production. The initiative would leverage Kazakhstan’s abundant renewable developing around 1 GW of renewables, up to 55 kt/year of green hydrogen or 310 kt/year of green ammonia.

Uniper to purchase 40 kt of eSAF annually for more than ten years from Arcadia eFuels’ Project Endor in Vordingborg. One of the largest announced eSAF offtake agreements to date. eSAF enables up to 98% lower lifecycle emissions. The agreement is legally binding, while the commencement of deliveries remains subject to agreed conditions precedent and the eSAF facility commencing commercial operations with supply planned early 2030s.

Jiaze New Energy has signed financing, research, and cooperation agreements to advance its 300 kt/year green methanol and SAF project in Jixi, Heilongjiang, with investment of RMB 3.56 billion. The project will use agricultural and forestry residues such as corn straw and corn cobs to produce green methanol, cellulosic ethanol, and ultimately sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Construction began in April 2026 with commissioning by the end of 2027.

Google has signed an agreement with Stegra to purchase environmental attribute certificates (EACs) linked to up to 91 kt of green hydrogen-based steel during the first year of production at Stegra’s Boden plant in Sweden. Under a “book-and-claim” model, Google will not receive the physical steel but can claim the associated emissions reductions, helping decarbonize activities such as data centre construction. The deal provides early revenue support for Stegra as it ramps up production from its 740 MW electrolyser green steel facility.

Air Products announced that it has signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with RWE to secure renewable electricity for its existing hydrogen operations and new liquid hydrogen facility being built in Rotterdam. The agreement will provide up to 75 GWh of renewable electricity annually.

AM Green has secured a 10-year renewable ammonia offtake agreement worth at least EUR 585m with Hintco under Germany’s H2Global program, becoming the sole winner of the Asian auction lot. The green ammonia will be produced at the company’s Kakinada Phase 2 project in Andhra Pradesh, where an existing ammonia and urea complex is being converted to use alkaline electrolysis powered by round-the-clock renewable energy and pumped-hydro storage. The first shipments to Germany are expected in 2029.

Haffner Energy has launched SB-HEFA (Solid Biomass to HEFA), an innovative process for producing renewable diesel and SAF based on its proprietary thermolysis technology, which directly converts solid biomass into liquid without going through syngas. With feedstock available at less than 20% of the cost of the oils used in HEFA/HVO pathways, together with a very short industrial process chain and improved energy efficiency, Haffner Energy is targeting an approximately 50% reduction in the levelised cost of production.

Ansaldo has completed its new high-volume production line of 300 MW per year for AEM (Anion Exchange Membrane) electrolyser stacks at its Genoa facility.  The production line has been developed as part of the "Turnkey Electrochemical Plants for H2 Production" project, supported under Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and the European IPCEI Hydrogen programme, benefiting of over EUR 300m in public funding.

Sungrow Hydrogen has signed a firm contract to supply 21MW of PEM electrolysers to Promet-Plast's government-subsidised green hydrogen project in Gaj Oławski, Poland — what Sungrow describes as Poland's largest PEM electrolyser order to date, producing 1,701 tonnes of RFNBO-certified hydrogen per year.

In a joint statement led by Hydrogen Europe, 170 companies across the European energy value chain called on the European Commission to maintain the binding RFNBO (renewable hydrogen) targets under RED III beyond 2030, arguing that these targets are essential for investor confidence and market development. The industry highlights that more than EUR 15 billion has already been committed to hydrogen projects in Europe, with over 4 GW of electrolysis capacity under construction, and estimates that meeting current RED III targets could unlock a further EUR 50-60 billion of investment while avoiding around 30 MtCO₂ per year.

Daimler Truck, Volvo Group, Toyota Motor Corporation, Bosch, Air Liquide, and other partners launched a Europe-wide initiative to accelerate hydrogen-powered trucking by developing the full value chain, from vehicle manufacturing to hydrogen supply and refueling infrastructure. The alliance aims to enable large-scale deployment of hydrogen trucks by 2030 and coordinated industrial investment, focusing on long-haul applications where hydrogen can complement battery-electric solutions.

The Netherlands is advancing its green hydrogen sector through a proposed EUR 661m payment from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, which includes funding for hydrogen research and demonstration projects aimed at expanding renewable hydrogen production and use. If approved, the funding would bring total EU recovery funds disbursed to the Netherlands to EUR 3.73 billion.

India has launched a new tender through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for large-scale green hydrogen hubs under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The hubs are to anchor large-scale hydrogen production and industrial demand, supported by ₹30 million per DPR per state. Also, the SECI launched auction for 54 kt/year of green ammonia to a fertilizer plant in Dhule, Maharashtra, under a 10-year supply agreement under demand-creation mechanism under the SIGHT scheme.

The Valencian Government has awarded EUR 76m to BP for low-carbon energy projects in Castellón, including EUR 66.3m for a new renewable hydrogen demonstration project and EUR 9.7m for sustainable biofuel pre-treatment technologies. The funding builds on BP and Iberdrola's under commissioning 25 MW green H2 plant at the Castellón refinery, expected to start operations before the end of 2026 and produce up to 2,800 t/y of green H2.

Stadler unveiled the world’s first hydrogen-powered train designed specifically for narrow-gauge railways at InnoTrans 2026. The train will be deployed on regional lines in Sardinia, Calabria, and Sicily, where a total of 21 hydrogen trains being built for local operators. Powered by hydrogen fuel cells and batteries using green hydrogen, 10 operational trains are expected to save more than 2,100 tCO₂/year compared with diesel alternatives.

These executive brief reviews the status of retrofitting existing heavy transportation vehicles with hydrogen technology allowing the reduction of carbon emissions to net-zero. It includes various aspects: the market dynamics, the key stakeholders and regulations, and potential support schemes