Australia's CWP continues to back Mauritania H2 plant

Spanish Market: Hydrogen
22/09/26

Australian renewables developer CWP Global is prioritising the development of its Aman hydrogen project in Mauritania while slowing activity elsewhere in its portfolio, company executives told Argus on 21 September.

This comes against the backdrop of weak demand and regulatory uncertainty which continue to delay investment decisions across the renewable hydrogen sector. The company has planned for the Aman project to produce 1.2mn t/yr of renewable hydrogen and 6.6mn t/yr of renewable ammonia.

Mauritania remains the developer's most advanced project and one of the few opportunities in its portfolio moving closer to commercial development, said both chief business development officer Nouri Chahid and chief product and offtake officer Bobby Pecotic.

The country's combination of wind and solar resources, access to seawater, proximity to Europe and potential integration with renewable iron production gives it advantages over competing hydrogen production regions, they added.

Hydrogen production costs are driven largely by electricity costs, and Mauritania's renewable resource base ranks among the strongest globally, the executives said.

Hydrogen production costs in Mauritania could be around half those in much of Europe, while shipping times to European markets are about 7-8 days, Chahid said. The project could achieve renewable hydrogen costs of $1.70-2/kg of hydrogen by 2035, according to the project's feasibility report from November 2023. Meanwhile, current assessed costs of hydrogen vary by location, with European output ranging at €5.89-8.54/kg including capital expenditure.

Mauritania and CWP last week signed what they described as a "comprehensive agreement" for the Aman project. The agreement establishes the contractual framework governing the project and is expected to become legally binding following parliamentary ratification. The developer and the Mauritanian government previously signed a framework agreement in 2022.

The recent agreement allows the company to begin more substantive discussions with lenders, regulators and prospective buyers, positioning Aman closer to commercial development than many competing hydrogen projects, Chahid said.

The latest capacity targets for the Aman hydrogen project are lower than those outlined in the 2022 framework agreement, which envisaged production of 1.7mn t/yr of renewable hydrogen and 10mn t/yr of renewable ammonia. The capacity targets were cut because of environmental and technical work that narrowed the project area to around 450,000 hectares (ha) (4500km²) from an initial 850,000ha study zone, Chahid said.

The Aman project is also linked to plans by CWP and Mauritania's state-owned mining company Snim for a renewable iron development.

CWP is focusing on regulatory engagement, financing discussions and commercial negotiations before launching front-end engineering and design (Feed) phase for the Aman project. Much of the project's technical development work has already been completed, the company executives said. CWP is in a position to move into the Feed phase, but wants to secure further progress on legislation, financing and offtake arrangements before advancing to the next stage, they added.

CWP previously targeted a final investment decision for Aman before 2030. An updated timeline for the project was not disclosed. The project timeline would depend on market development, Chahid said.

Challenges in the hydrogen sector

The slower pace of development reflects broader challenges facing the hydrogen sector.

Discussions with prospective buyers remain active, but many companies are unwilling to enter binding long-term agreements without stronger policy support, the executives said. "The biggest hurdle is regulatory support," Pecotic added.

Many prospective offtakers remain interested in renewable hydrogen and ammonia but are waiting for clearer support mechanisms and regulatory frameworks before making commitments. Market conditions are more challenging than they were 2-3 years ago despite continuing decarbonisation efforts, the company executives said.

Those conditions are increasingly shaping portfolio decisions across the sector. CWP has effectively paused development of its proposed Amun hydrogen project in Morocco after changes to the country's hydrogen development framework complicated the pathway originally envisaged by the company, the executives said. The project had previously been planned with up to 15GW of electrolyser capacity.

Activity in Latin America has also been paused while the company waits for market conditions to improve, they said.

The company continues to maintain its position in Djibouti, where it signed an initial agreement in 2022 covering a proposed 10GW renewable energy and hydrogen development project.

Discussions with the government are continuing, although further progress will depend on stronger market conditions, the executives said.

CWP is also continuing development of projects in Australia at a slower pace. The company retains an interest in a large-scale project in South Australia that could eventually reach around 50GW, but development is being paced according to market conditions, Chahid said.

By Anmol Choubey

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

18/09/26

Cautious optimism on German decarbonisation

Berlin, 18 September (Argus) — German government officials have voiced cautious optimism about financing the country's industrial decarbonisation, as the economy ministry this week disclosed the results of its €5bn ($5.7bn) tender for carbon contracts for difference. Germany's government is advancing in its aim to get more private capital involved in the green transformation, finance ministry official Anna Klabunde said at an industry event in Gelsenkirchen this week. Klabunde, who is head of the ministry's sustainability, decarbonisation and carbon pricing unit, flagged the three new programmes launched or planned by the government's "Germany fund", under the auspices of state-held bank KfW, that are designed to make it easier for private-sector investors to get involved. The first of the programmes is an investment loan scheme for energy supply, aimed at district heating and cooling networks. The second is a hedging instrument for "industries in transition". Both were launched last month, with German turbine manufacturer Enercon already making use of the new hedging instrument for its €1bn green loan syndicated guarantee facility, arranged with banks including KfW. The third scheme has not yet been launched. It targets the construction sector and aims to push private investments in residential construction. Half of all applications for state guarantees in the industry-heavy German state of North Rhine-Westphalia are for transformation projects such as biogas plants or electrolysers, auditing firm PWC director Rainer Holtmann said at this week's event. The firm audits and manages state guarantees for loans on behalf of the economy ministry. But it is difficult to arrange state guarantees for hydrogen or steel projects, given the lack of "expectations", Holtmann said. Such projects are considered loss-making businesses that will be dependent on subsidies for the foreseeable future. Hydrogen projects will typically need 100pc equity, Holtmann said. Financing for steel is difficult too, and there is massive competition from areas such as the armament industry, which promises better returns in the short term, Holtmann said. German research institute Oeko Institut's Felix Matthes called for a more encompassing approach. Germany needs a hydrogen strategy and a carbon capture and storage (CCS) strategy, and sufficient funding, he said. The cost gap for transformation projects will not be bridged through insurance instruments alone or the EU emissions trading system (ETS) price, Matthes said. He pointed out how the UK, a country with a "different attitude to the financial markets", supports its green hydrogen industry. Klabunde suggested there might be a case for extending to other sectors Germany's "inter-temporal" funding mechanism for its hydrogen core grid — through which the state broadly advances the investment costs. And she defended the government's much-criticised decision to shift billions of euros from Germany's climate transformation fund to the general budget. Finance minister Lars Klingbeil has said the changes were necessary owing to budgetary constraints, but Klabunde clarified that they were also carried out as part of an overall focus on raising efficiency and enabling the most emissions reductions at the lowest costs. Many European states do not even have such a fund, she said. Green lead markets — another much-debated support mechanism for industrial decarbonisation — can be "hard work" as they must be implemented at the European level, economy ministry official Verena Lauber said. Lauber leads the ministry's decarbonisation funding programmes unit. Local content rules planned under the European Commission's proposed Industrial Accelerator Act would only come in 2030, which would be too late for "many", think-tank the Jacques Delors Centre senior policy fellow Philipp Jaeger said. North Rhine-Westphalia's junior economy minister, Silke Krebs, voiced her "joy" at the plans for public green procurement mooted by the EU, and stressed that "we continue with confidence and hope that everything will fit together". North Rhine-Westphalia is actively driving forward Germany's hydrogen starter grid. The "key" problem facing the state's industrial decarbonisation is that "the timelines no longer match" on areas such as CCS, along with the voices placing doubt on the need for decarbonisation in the first place, Krebs warned. There is always a risk that policy makers cave in, crashing EU ETS prices, research institute Wuppertal Institut's Lukas Hermwille said. This makes the restrained reaction of the EU ETS to the commission's revision proposal in July all the more remarkable, he said. It shows how market participants had correctly anticipated and priced in the "waning credibility", Hermwille said. It is precisely the massive delays in infrastructure deployment that made ETS adjustments necessary, Jaeger said, stressing that the delays were not expected 2-3 years ago. And the lack of a Europe-wide consensus on decarbonisation and ensuing political insecurity make investment decisions more difficult, Jaeger said. Germany's government is also working on a carbon management strategy and a long-term negative emissions strategy, which are expected to be presented by the end of this month. By Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Masdar exits OMV’s Austrian 140MW green H2 project

18/09/26

Masdar exits OMV’s Austrian 140MW green H2 project

Hamburg, 18 September (Argus) — UAE state-owned renewables developer Masdar has exited an agreement to buy a 49pc stake in Austrian energy firm OMV's 140MW electrolysis project at Bruck an der Leitha, Austria. Masdar will not make the planned equity investment announced in November , OMV said today. The two companies "jointly evaluated the future ownership structure of the project" and will "continue to explore future collaborations," OMV said. The project is under construction and OMV will continue the plans as the sole developer, the firm said. The scope and timeline remain unchanged, with commissioning scheduled for the end of 2027. Once operational, the plant will produce up to 23,000 t/yr of renewable hydrogen that will be supplied through a 22km pipeline to OMV's Schwechat refinery. OMV estimates total investment required at €600mn ($688mn). The company has secured a €450mn loan from the European Investment Bank for the project and will receive €123mn in subsidies from the Austrian government under the European Hydrogen Bank's auctions-as-a-service scheme. Masdar recently also gave up plans for a stake in Spanish firm Moeve's 300MW Onuba project in Huelva, southwest Spain, although the UAE firm will still provide renewable power to the plant . French hydrogen-focused investment firm Hy24 and Spanish state-backed financing body Cofides announced this week that they would take a 29pc stake in Onuba, which started construction on 17 September. By Stefan Krumpelmann Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

EU parliament rejects CBAM suspension clause: Update

15/09/26

EU parliament rejects CBAM suspension clause: Update

Adds deletion of Paris agreement carbon credits clause Brussels, 15 September (Argus) — The European Parliament today confirmed its rejection of a proposed new Article 27a to the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that would have allowed the temporary suspension of the scheme for certain products. At the same time, they backed extending the CBAM to more than 180 additional steel and aluminium-intensive downstream products, including structures, pipes, tubes and components. Parliament's environment committee had already voted in July to extend the CBAM to a long list of downstream goods containing steel or aluminium. "This Article [27a] prevents investments in technologies of the future and punishes those that have already moved ahead," parliament's centre-left S&D draftsman Mohammed Chahim said. "The same people that are sceptical of the CBAM come to me and ask whether certain CN codes can be added to the list," he said. Chahim said parliament had rejected what he described as a "disguised" subsidy for foreign fertilizers through Article 27a. Instead, support for affected sectors in serious and unforeseen circumstances should come from CBAM revenues, he said. EU member states agreed on their CBAM revisions in June , supporting a similar expansion to downstream products while retaining a narrower version of Article 27a. Under the states' proposal, the CBAM could be suspended for certain products if import prices rose to 50pc above a 10-year average and remained at that level for six months. Argus analysis in June indicated that the CBAM was unlikely to be suspended for fertilizers under current market conditions if member states' proposed amendment was included in the final legislation. Only phosphate prices in some markets were above the threshold at the time. In a separate vote, parliament extended the list of products eligible for support under the temporary decarbonisation fund (TDF) to include urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate and other mineral or chemical fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Wheat and barley, excluding seed, as well as iron, steel, cement and aluminium products, also remain eligible. Parliament said MEPs want TDF support available from 2027 to 2029, rather than starting in 2028 as proposed by the European Commission. And they want downstream products that use CBAM-covered goods as inputs to be eligible for support from the fund. Parliament confirmed the environment committee's previous deletion of the clause enabling the commission to take into account carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement when calculating the carbon price paid abroad. Parliament also approved new anti-circumvention provisions requiring the commission to monitor patterns "indicative of artificial splitting of transactions or other circumvention strategies aimed at falling below the de minimis threshold set at 50 tonnes of net mass in the CBAM regulation". EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra urged parliament and member states to reach agreement "well before" year-end. "Without agreement, there is a risk that the downstream extension simply cannot enter into force on 1 January 2028 as planned," he said. The vote, which passed by 464 votes to 50 with 159 abstentions, clears the way for negotiations with member states on a final legal text. Governments continue to support a more limited safeguard clause that could trigger temporary CBAM suspensions for sectors facing crisis conditions. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Fertiglobe explores equity in Hamburg ammonia terminal

14/09/26

Fertiglobe explores equity in Hamburg ammonia terminal

London, 14 September (Argus) — Ammonia producer and trading firm Fertiglobe could acquire a stake in Germany-based MB Energy's planned ammonia import terminal in Hamburg, under a recently announced initial agreement. Under the agreement, Fertiglobe will look to supply industrial ammonia buyer Covestro through MB Energy's 600,000 t/yr ammonia import terminal in Hamburg , which is now expected to begin operations in 2028 after various delays. Fertiglobe owns ammonia production assets in Algeria, Egypt and the UAE totalling around 4.4mn t/yr of capacity. The firm has a number of existing offtake deals with ammonia consumers in Europe, and will explore opportunities to supply other industrial buyers through the Hamburg terminal. Fertiglobe also has plans to develop renewable ammonia in Egypt , although a final investment decision on the project has been delayed since 2023. Covestro will use the ammonia as a feedstock in its existing production process, or to meet hydrogen supply requirements. Initially announced plans for the Hamburg terminal suggest it will connect to a cracking facility. Fertiglobe could supply conventional, renewable or low-carbon ammonia, the firm said. MB Energy recently announced the sale of its 1.3mn t/yr ammonia plant in the US Gulf, known as Gulf Coast Ammonia (GCA), to fertilizer producer Yara. MB Energy co-owns the GCA plant with US investment firm Lotus Infrastructure Partners. The Hamburg terminal will still be built and operated by MB Energy, suggesting the company will retain a presence in the ammonia logistics business. By Lizzy Lancaster Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

E-SAF supply gap looms as EU, UK mandates approach

10/09/26

E-SAF supply gap looms as EU, UK mandates approach

London, 10 September (Argus) — Supply of synthetic aviation fuel (e-SAF) may fall short of EU and UK 2030 mandates as developers struggle to sign binding long-term offtake deals and wait for subsidy schemes to break the deadlock, delegates told the Global Synthetic Fuels Assembly in London this week. The EU's ReFuelEU Aviation regulation requires e-SAF to make up 1.2pc of jet fuel supplied at EU airports in 2030-31, or around 600,000 t/yr. Supply will be 50,000 t/yr at best by 2030 as few projects will reach final investment decisions (FID) in time, one speaker said, leaving fuel suppliers to pay penalties of €13,000-17,000/t ($15,100-19,700/t) on the shortfall. This would cost airlines around €8bn with no decarbonisation benefit, echoing concerns raised earlier this year. Obligated fuel suppliers also face having to make up missed volumes in later compliance periods on top of fines. One speaker urged the European Commission to drop this redelivery obligation while the market is short and follow the UK model of buy-out penalties without rollover. Not all EU member states have set penalty levels and the commission's review of ReFuelEU Aviation is due in early 2027, leaving potential buyers hesitant to sign offtake deals. Mixed signals from Brussels are also cooling investment, one speaker said. Binding long-term offtake remains the main barrier to debt financing. Lenders want 70-80pc of output contracted for 10-14 years, but airlines and fuel suppliers rarely commit beyond 2-3 years, limiting credible buyers to a few large airlines. Equity investors expect returns of 20-25pc, above what many projects offer, speakers said. Some argued that spot prices will rise towards penalty levels in a short market, but lenders are not yet convinced. The wait for Europe's double-sided auctions (DSAs) and the UK's revenue certainty mechanism (RCM) is adding to the deadlock, delegates said. The schemes will aid e-SAF price formation but will not be "game changing", as they will support only limited volumes, with most supply still traded bilaterally. Proposed support through EU Emissions Trading System allowances may stimulate some offtake, though there is no reservation specifically for e-SAF. Grant schemes such as the UK's new £93mn low carbon fuels fund may do little to help, a speaker said. Developers are increasingly eyeing methanol-to-jet (MTJ) over Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology, citing FT's need for large plants running on baseload power close to renewable hydrogen and biogenic CO2 supply. MTJ allows a "hub-and-spoke" model , with e-methanol made where renewable power is cheaper and converted to e-SAF in Europe. ASTM approval of the pathway has been key, speakers said. Multiple speakers noted that much of UK and EU e-SAF supply may rely on imported e-methanol . Challenges in securing grid connections, cheap and stable low-carbon electricity and eligible CO2 may push more developers to this model, speakers noted. Still some speakers were sceptical, as MTJ is "unproven at commercial scales" and harder to run flexibly than many assume, while FT draws on many gas-to-liquids plant references. Delegates were also split on plant scale. Some developers plan to build modular plants in phases to limit debt needs and ease offtake. Others said small plants cannot produce at competitive costs or service debt at rates preferred by lenders. One speaker warned that 100,000 t/yr plants requiring around $1.5bn-2bn of investment are too risky for most lenders in the "current nascent market". With offtake deals typically signed 3-4 years before delivery, the next two years will decide whether meaningful volumes reach EU airports by 2030, delegates said. Some buyers may wait for cheaper imports, but inaction risks obligations being met largely through penalties rather than fuel. By Chingis Idrissov Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more