Good morning, wonderful people. We hope you had a relaxing long weekend and rang-in the New Year in a way that made you happy.

This morning’s issue is Egypt-heavy, with news out of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the rest of North Africa having taken something of a breather since Christmas Day. Among the big stories are a potential investments worth that could be worth more than USD 13 bn in both green hydrogen and renewable energy.

^^ We have the rundown below and in this morning’s news well.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Egypt’s cabinet greenlit DEME’s USD 3.1 bn project to produce green hydrogen and its derivatives, including green ammonia, in the Gargoub Special Economic Zone (GSEZ) located in Matrouh Governorate, according to a statement on Wednesday. The project — which represents only the first of three phases — will be fully financed and established by Belgian renewable energy company DEME Group, in partnership with the Egypt’s Transport Ministry, the New and Renewable Energy Authority, and the Alexandria Port Authority.

Deme has been eying Egypt’s hydrogen sector for years: Last year, a consortium that includes DEME presented a feasibility study on a 500 MW green hydrogen plant on Egypt’s north coast. In 2021, the Belgian company said it will work with Egypt on exploring green hydrogen under an MoU with the oil and electricity ministries and the Egyptian Navy.

Egypt has big plans for Gargoub: Egypt’s transport ministry has inked an MoU with South Korean trading company STX Corporation in November at GSEZ last month. The agreement aims to upgrade Gargoub’s port and establish an industrial logistics zone in the area.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom opened an office in Cairo on Saturday, according to a press release.

REMEMBER- Rosatom is developing Egypt’s giant Dabaa plant:The Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA) granted permission for the construction of the fourth and final 1.2 GW reactor at 4.8 GW Dabaa nuclear power plant in September. Egypt and Rosatom began construction on the USD 30 bn plant in July 2022, kicking off an eight-year construction timeline that will see it come online at the beginning of the next decade.

ALSO- Speaking of the Dabaa plant: Remaining parts needed for the Dabaa plant’s reactor core catcher — a device used to catch the molten core material of a nuclear reactor — have just arrived at the plant’s specialized port, according to a statement by Egypt’sNuclear Power Plants Authority.

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THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- Extinction Rebellion blocks Amsterdam highway in protest of continued fossil fuel funding: 300 climate activists — including dozens from UK-founded environmental movement Extinction Rebellion — were held by Dutch police on Saturday for blocking Amsterdam’s A10 highway in a protest against banking group ING’s continued financing for fossil fuel projects. The demonstrators called for an immediate cessation of the bank’s Big Oil investments, calls which ING said are “radical and unrealistic.” Amsterdam police freed most of the activists it held later on Saturday.

The protest came after ING released an updated climate strategy to stop financing oil and gas exploration and production by 2040 and committed to tripling its lending for renewable energy projects over the next two years. Climate activists claim the pace is too slow to maintain global climate targets.

The story made headlines in the international press:Reuters | AP News | Euronews

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Qatar will host The International Conference on Smart Grid and Renewable Energy is kicking off Tuesday, 9 January through to Friday, 12 January in Doha. The conference will explore smart grid and renewable energy resources and related technologies. Look for discussion of power electronics, controls, manufacturing, communications, and computational intelligence.

Saudi Arabia will host the Future Minerals Forum from Tuesday, 9 January through to Thursday, 11 January in Riyadh. The event will focus on resource-rich regions of Africa, Western Asia, and Central Asia and will include a ministerial roundtable with over 60 countries being represented. A parallel exhibition will have some 150 exhibitors and industry sponsors on site.

The UAE will host the Management and Sustainability of Water Resources Conference from Monday, 26 February to Wednesday 28 February in Dubai. Water availability in arid and semiarid regions, global water issues, and future water and environmental challenges are all on the agenda.

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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