Yesterday (November 7), at the COP27 convention in Egypt, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov signed an agreement establishing a partnership between the EU and Kazakhstan to secure a source of raw materials, batteries and renewable hydrogen. [ European Union, 2022]
As UN weather talks begin at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh hotel, the European Union is moving towards secure partnerships with emerging countries on hydrogen and blank technologies, starting with Kazakhstan.
In its REPowerEU plan presented in May, the European Commission set the target of generating ten million tonnes of renewable hydrogen in Europe and charging the same amount until 2030.
And now it’s moving forward to secure supplies. At the COP27 convention in Egypt on Monday, November 7, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, building a “strategic partnership. “between the two sides.
The partnership establishes “closer economic and trade integration” in raw materials, batteries and renewable hydrogen, the identity of joint projects, the alignment of environmental and social criteria, as well as the modernization of extraction and refining processes.
“A safe and sustainable source of raw fabrics, subtle fabrics and renewable hydrogen is a key detail to help build a new, cleaner foundation for our economies,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
“We are necessarily opening a new bankruptcy in our already deep relationship,” he added at the signing ceremony.
The EU already accounts for 60% of foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan, von der Leyen stressed, cooperation with Astana will be key to achieving the EU’s meteorological targets.
Within the framework of the partnership, the EU and Kazakhstan pledged to extend “a roadmap for 2023-2024”, with concrete joint moves agreed within six months of signing the partnership.
Prime Minister Smailov said his country “is ready to offer European corporations favorable situations and the mandatory infrastructure to make the resolution to move to Kazakhstan,” and invited the Commission president to stop in Astana in 2023 to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations. .
Kazakhstan aspires to be a leading manufacturer and exporter of renewable hydrogen. In October, the government reached an agreement with European renewable energy organization Svevind to build one of the five largest green hydrogen production facilities in the world, according to The Astana Times.
The allocation will be built in the Mangystau region near the Caspian Sea and plans to start generating green hydrogen until 2030 from solar and wind power.
Other bilateral cooperation agreements are underway at COP27 as a component of the EU’s diplomatic efforts. On Tuesday (November 8), von der Leyen will meet with Namibian President Hage Geingob to signal a partnership of components.
And a new agreement between the European Union and Egypt on renewable energy and hydrogen is also expected to be signed at the COP27 climate conference.
The deal will come with “renewable hydrogen certification that can then be exchanged between Egypt and Europe,” an EU official said.
The partnership follows a July meeting between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Egyptian President el-Sisi, where leaders agreed to cooperate on demanding climate, energy and trade transformation situations ahead of COP27.
The EU official also discussed the recent “green energy deal” between the EU and Morocco, signed in October through European Commission deputy head Frans Timmermans and Moroccan foreign policy leader Nasser Bourita, in the hope that it will cooperate on renewable energy.
“Another mutual meeting for Europe and our southern partners, who obviously have many renewable prospects in terms of solar and wind energy,” the official said.
The European Union and Morocco signed on Tuesday (October 18) a “green partnership” agreement that they expect cooperation in the field of renewable energies.
[Edited by Frédéric Simon]