The joint venture ORNX, bringing together US-based Ortus Climate Mitigation and the Spanish-German consortium Acciona & Nordex Green Hydrogen, is exploring opportunities to secure European funding for a project to produce green hydrogen and ammonia in Laayoune, in Morocco’s Sahara region.
According to a report by Africa Intelligence seen by Assahifa, the move follows the project's securing a $5.7 million grant from the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) late last July to finance preliminary engineering studies. The funding agreement was signed in the presence of US Ambassador to Morocco Richard Duke Buchan.
At the same time, the Spanish-German consortium, Acciona and Nordex Green Hydrogen, sent its development director, Raul Manzanas Ochagavia, to Brussels, where he held meetings with European institutions to explore whether the project could qualify for European funding, the report said.
According to Africa Intelligence, the effort aims to ensure the project complies with European rules governing green hydrogen and sustainable investments, which could allow it to access European financing at a later stage, once implementation begins.
Among the key regulations is the European Union’s framework for Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs), which sets the legal criteria for classifying hydrogen as “green”. This is particularly important for a project targeting the production of commodities for export to the European market.
The project is also seeking to align with the EU’s Green Taxonomy, which establishes criteria for determining whether economic activities and projects qualify as sustainable investments. Such compliance could potentially give the project access to financing from European institutions, including the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
ORNX is also betting on the project’s alignment with the EU’s REPowerEU plan, which includes a target of raising the share of renewable energy in the EU’s energy mix to 42.5% by 2030, while also increasing imports of green hydrogen.
The project is also looking to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as a factor that could strengthen its prospects in the European market, particularly as ammonia is among the products that may face a carbon cost when entering the European market.
The project is expected to require around $4.5 billion in investment. Its components include more than 2 GW of solar and wind power capacity, around 900 MW of electrolyser capacity, energy-storage systems and a seawater desalination plant. The project aims to produce approximately 560,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually, using hydrogen generated from renewable energy sources.
The implementation of the project could also pave the way for further international investment in the energy sector in Morocco’s Sahara, supporting Rabat’s plans to develop the region and accelerate its economic growth, particularly amid what Morocco views as growing international support for resolving the dispute based on its autonomy initiative.
