"Produce green iron and steel using hydrogen and export to Europe," EU president advises Mauritania
Industry newsEuropean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen visited Mauritania on Thursday for a green hydrogen roundtable, urging the government to produce and export both renewable hydrogen (H2) and green steel to Europe. The EU aims to import ten million tonnes of green H2 from outside the bloc by 2030, and Mauritania is strategically positioned to be a key supplier due to its proximity to Europe, vast undeveloped land, and abundant renewable energy sources like wind and sunshine.
Von der Leyen proposed that instead of exporting all green hydrogen to Europe, Mauritania should use some of it to produce its own green iron and steel for export, emphasizing the value addition and job creation potential. She highlighted the importance of green hydrogen as an essential input for producing green steel and suggested that EU funds from its Global Gateway fund could support infrastructure investments in Mauritania, such as high-voltage power transmission lines and road infrastructure.
President Ghazouani welcomed the idea of energy cooperation between Mauritania and the EU, highlighting the country's abundant renewable energy resources and reserves of iron and magnetite ideal for green steel production.
The discussion follows a joint report by UNIDO and Irena, which raised concerns about fair distribution of green hydrogen's benefits and resistance from local communities in developing countries. However, Mauritanian energy minister Abdessalam Mohamed Saleh expressed the country's commitment to playing a leading role in the global green hydrogen economy, citing environmental, economic, and social benefits.
Despite having only 122MW of renewable energy installed in 2022, Mauritania has ambitious plans for several 10GW-plus green hydrogen projects, including the Megaton Moon project by GreenGo Energy and the Aman project by CWP Global. These projects aim to utilize vast amounts of new wind and solar power to produce green hydrogen.
Traditional iron extraction methods involve burning coking coal, emitting CO2. Green hydrogen offers a decarbonization solution by replacing coke in the process, reacting with oxygen to form steam (H2O).