Good morning, friends, and welcome to a news morning that is heavy on both M&A and Saudi news, with our three biggest stories of the day falling into one or both of these categories.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- Canadian minerals exploration company Genius Metals has signed an option agreement with Morocco’s Société Bleida Mineral Resources to acquire 100% of its BMR copper-gold project in Ouarzazate. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco is acquiring 50% of Air Products Qudra’s blue hydrogen unit and Saudi sovereign wealth fund the Public Investment Fund has signed three agreements with Chinese firms to manufacture wind and solar energy generation components locally.

^^ We have chapter and verse on these stories and more in the news well, below.

THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Climate change could be making our days longer: Rising sea levels are altering the speed of the Earth’s rotation, which has extended our days by milliseconds. Although the change is minute — 1.33 milliseconds per century — it could impact technology that relies on precise timekeeping such as GPS. The moon is currently the dominating factor determining the Earth’s rotation, but climate change could become a greater determinant if temperatures continue to rise.

What’s the science behind it? Polar ice melt driven by climate change is pushing that meltwater from the poles towards the equator, which is changing the mass distribution of the planet and effectively slowing down its rotation. If the planet continues warming and ice loss accelerates, days could be lengthened by 2.62 milliseconds by the end of the century. Eventually, we might have to add or subtract leap seconds from coordinated universal time that sets time zones to keep it aligned with the Earth’s rotation.

The story made headlines in the international press: CNN | BBC | The Guardian | Washington Post | ABC

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Egypt’s government is aiming to generate USD 10-18 bn from green hydrogen projects by 2040, Youm7 reports, citing a work program document published by the newly appointed cabinet. The government plans to accelerate the implementation of its green hydrogen strategy, aiming to produce 3.2 mn tons annually by 2030, increasing to 9.2 mn tons by 2040. The green hydrogen projects are also expected to create over 100k jobs by 2040. The goals outlined in the document are revised down from a previously announced target of exporting 12.5 mn tons of green hydrogen by 2035. Egypt aims to reach a cost of USD 1.7 per kg by 2050 to capture 8% of the global hydrogen market share.

Where does Egypt stand today? Egypt published a hydrogen roadmap but is yet to release its national hydrogen strategy, according to a report (pdf) released last month by consulting agency Alexec. The country joined the African Green Hydrogen Alliance, launched the Hydrogen Egypt association, and has announced a tax and VAT cut of 33-55% on various project-related equipment and materials. However, the tax incentives are eligible for projects that can secure 70% of its investment from foreign financial institutions, start operations within five years, meet a minimum 20% local-content requirement, and cap foreign employees at 30% of the total workforce for up to 10 years, Alexec’s report noted.

ICYMI- Egypt recently signed a slew of hydrogen agreements with European firms to stay on track during the two-day Egypt-EU Investment Conference last month, with renewable energy and green hydrogen taking center stage as the country plans to transform into a regional hub for green hydrogen production by 2026 and a global hub by 2030.

#2- Shell Oman’s blue hydrogen and ammonia project Blue Horizons located in Duqm has entered its pre front-end engineering design (FEED) phase, the company’s Senior Vice President and County Chair Walid Hadi said. As part of this phase, Shell Oman aims to finalize the technical design and agree on the commercial terms with the Oman’s government and other offtakers. The firm is working with OQ, OQ Gas Network, and Petroleum Development Oman under a joint study agreement to deliver the pre-FEED activities for this project, Hadi notes.

ALSO- The pre-FEED package was awarded to UK-based engineering and business consulting firm Wood, which has a main office in Abu Dhabi, Hadi added. Wood will carry out studies on a pre-FEED package for the facility, and on the CO2 pipeline and injection facilities. The timeline and financials of the agreement have not been disclosed.

REMEMBER- The project has been in the works since early 2023: Oman’s OQ signed an agreement with Oman Shell in January of last year to jointly produce some 1.8 mn tons of green hydrogen in Oman following Shell’s acquisition of a 35% stake in the country’s planned Green Energy Oman project. Shell decided to develop the plant in Duqm to facilitate export of the fuel in the form of blue ammonia thanks to a proposed hydrogen conversion loop and was later awarded a block of land — through its Green Energy Oman consortium with OQ — by Oman’s state-owned hydrogen company Hydrom in June 2023.

#3- Another step for Masdar’s Cirata plant in Indonesia: Renewable giant Masdar’s Cirata 145 MW (192 MWp) floating solar plant in Indonesia has met the country’s local content requirements, the first project of its kind in the country to do so, according to a statement. Masdar began operating the USD 108.7 mn plant — the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia and the third largest globally — last November, selling its generated energy to Indonesia’s utility company PLN Nusantara Power.

REMEMBER- Expansion plans are underway: The company entered a Joint Development Study Agreement with PLN Nusantara Power aiming to triple the capacity of the operating Cirata floating PV project to 500 MW in May. The plans were initially announced last September when Masdar and PLN signed an initial agreement to move forward with tripling the size of the plant.

#4- HSBC unveils new climate unit: UK-based banking giant HSBC has launched a new climate-focused infrastructure and project finance unit, HSBC Infrastructure Finance (HIF), which will focus on funding decarbonization projects, CEO of Global Banking and Markets Greg Guyett told Reuters. HIF aims to secure a significant share in key markets and will integrate parts of HSBC’s Global Banking Real Asset Finance team, Guyett added. The move marks HSBC’s return to project finance advisory, at a time when it has a “leading presence in the regions where infrastructure financing and project finance advisory capabilities are critical to enabling a just transition to a low carbon economy,” he added.

The details: The unit will be led by former UK minister Danny Alexander, which will help the firm accelerate partnerships with governments, multilateral development banks, and companies, Guyett added. HIF will also collaborate with HSBC’s CMB Infrastructure Finance team and oversee the Pentagreen Capital joint venture — a sustainable infrastructure debt unit launched with Singapore’s Temasek.

#5- Companies call for action against nature loss: Over 130 companies with combined revenues of USD 1.1 tn — including Unilever, L’Occitane, and Iberdrola — are urging governments to implement stricter policies to halt nature loss by the end of the decade, Reuters reports. The plea comes ahead of the COP16 biodiversity summit taking place in October in Colombia, where countries will discuss the implementation of a 2022 agreement to protect 30% of the world’s natural ecosystems.

The suggestions: The open letter — coordinated by the environmental coalition Business For Nature — emphasizes the urgent need for measures such as subsidy reform, sustainable water use, and improved farming practices to prevent the extinction of over 1 mn species. The letter also calls for governments to ensure businesses and financial actors protect and restore nature, embedding sustainability in decision-making and global agreements to address nature loss.

#6- General Motors joins EV makers revising down production goals: General Motors (GM) has revised down its EV goals of producing 1 mn EVs by the end of next year, GM CEO Mary Barra told (watch, runtime: 1:41). The scale-down was attributed to slower-than-expected market growth. The adjustment follows earlier comments about the company’s goal of an all-electric fleet by 2035, which would depend heavily on consumer acceptance.

Riding the slow wave: GM is experiencing a slowdown in EV deliveries and has delayed the opening of an electric pickup truck plant in the US despite overcoming previous battery production issues. The company, however, is currently ramping up production of its lower-priced electric Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox models to boost sales. GM’s shares saw a modest rise of less than 1% following Barra’s announcement, bringing the company’s 2024 gain to 37%, Bloomberg reported.

It’s an EV exodus: Vietnamese EV maker VinFast Auto announced this week that it is delaying the completion of its North Carolina Factory by three years and has lowered its full-year sales target to 80k from 100k. BYD experienced its slowest quarterly bottomline growth in two years in 2Q, leading to a 6.1% drop in the company’s Hong Kong shares. In March, Lucid Motors’ shares were down 31% since the beginning of the year, and there is a belief among some pundits that US appetite for EVs — which rose to a peak during covid — has fallen off.

WORTH WATCHING-

Egypt’s push to urbanize is putting green spaces at risk: Egypt’s rapid urban expansions have been threatening the health of green spaces in the country’s capital city, Cairo University Professor of Architecture Nabil Alhady tells ABS-CBN News (watch runtime: 7:26). The video pans over these decimated lands as Alhady walks through and discusses the impacts of urbanization, including how the expansion of the Ring Road has blocked access to sunlight for the agricultural lands below. Egypt lacks greenery due to its desert climate, Alhady explains, adding that green spaces flourish only because of the existence of the Nile River. “We need to preserve the banks of the Nile as the backbone of nature in Cairo’s heavily urbanized setting,” Alhady emphasizes.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UAE will host the World ESG Summit from Tuesday, 20 August to Wednesday, 21 August in Dubai. The summit will gather experts and industry leaders to explore new ways to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into business practices.

Turkey will host the International Conference on Clean and Green Energy Engineering from Saturday, 24 August to Monday, 26 August in Izmir. The event will gather researchers and professionals to share advances in clean energy. It will also offer a platform to discuss the latest research, practices, and applications in clean and green energy engineering.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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