The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has secured $64 billion of green hydrogen investments through 12 finalized framework agreements according to Waleid Gamal El-Din, Chairperson of SCZONE. This was revealed during a meeting with Mostafa Madbouly, the Prime Minister of Egypt, where they discussed ongoing projects and activities in the region.

Strategic Location and Economic Impact

The SCZONE covers an area of 455 square kilometers and is a highly strategic region for the development of the Egyptian economy. Situated on the Suez Canal, which serves as a crucial international trade route, where 12% of the global trade is carried out and has 26,000 vessels per year, the region generates 100,000 direct and indirect jobs. According to Gamal El-Din, the zone remains an appealing investment destination through its strategic location, accessibility to mega ports, existing infrastructural conditions-say, six large operational ones administered by five key firms.

Green Hydrogen Investment and Infrastructure

The SCZONE has signed 30 Memoranda of Understanding, out of which 14 are still active. Besides the 12 concluded green hydrogen deals, another project is under development and will produce 1.3 million tons per year and will invest $7.5 billion. The efforts of the zone to attract green hydrogen investments include a proposed green hydrogen production complex, further cementing its plans to become a key player in the green energy sector.

Support for Green Hydrogen Industry Expansion

Gamal El-Din outlined several opportunities within the green hydrogen sector, including the localization of hydrogen production, supporting infrastructure, and ship bunkering. The SCZONE is also scouting for the manufacturing of electrolyser components, wind turbines, and solar panels. This initiative seeks to capitalise on the growing demand for green fuels worldwide, leveraging the strategic advantages presented by the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

SCZONE has more attractions apart from green hydrogen; there is attraction for other industries, like electric vehicle and its derivatives including battery and tyres. Then comes the pharmaceuticals, building materials, and textiles industries. In SCZONE, this diversified industry makes many different investment opportunities open both for local investors and those outside the region.

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The SCZONE is also advancing several logistical projects. One of the most important developments is a four-phase water desalination plant in Sokhna with an overall capacity of one million cubic meters per day. The first phase will begin operation by the second half of 2026, with a capacity of 250,000 cubic meters per day. Others that are in the pipeline include the Sokhna logistics corridor, a liquid cargo terminal at Sokhna Port, a 1.5 square-kilometer tank farm, and a gas network project-all scheduled to start operations in 2026.

Frontier is launching a pioneering initiative aimed at advancing carbon dioxide removal (CDR) through alkalinity driven approaches. The Alkalinity Sourcing Challenge focuses on identifying accessible and cost effective mineral deposits that can support large scale CDR efforts, potentially helping to mitigate climate change on a teraton scale by the end of the century.

The challenge seeks to locate mineral deposits that are highly reactive with ambient air, specifically targeting minerals like brucite, portlandite, magnesia, and wollastonite. Such minerals with their very slow reactivity rates serve an important function of holding onto carbon dioxide dissolved within the atmosphere. Ideally, researchers are interested in how these sources of alkalinity may be tapped as levers for large scale removals of carbon from the atmosphere.

Crowdsourcing Hypotheses to Discover Latent Deposits

A key aspect of the challenge is the crowdsourcing approach, inviting individuals and organizations to contribute their insights into potential sites containing large quantities of highly reactive minerals. Geological processes have already formed significant deposits of brucite, a mineral that could play a key role in the CDR effort, though the exact locations of these valuable resources are still uncertain.

The challenge aims to harness collective intelligence to hypothesize potential sites that could support at least one teraton of alkalinity-driven CDR, a step that could significantly contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.

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Incentives and Evaluation Process

The challenge’s criteria will determine which submissions will be eligible for the $5,000 award. Frontier will work with independent academic experts to review the submissions in order to identify the most viable and promising sites. In the event that more than ten submissions meet the necessary criteria, Frontier will prioritize those that suggest the largest deposits with the strongest supporting evidence, both theoretical and empirical.