GE could deploy 1.5GW of offshore wind to decarbonise Gulf of Suez oil & gas production under an alliance with Egyptian fossil group EGAS.
The US industrial giant, Egyptian hydrocarbons player and offshore renewable engineering specialist Seasplit will cooperate over the “technical and economic feasibility” of the project under an agreement signed at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh.
Hussein Mesharafa, CEO of Seasplit, said: “Egypt has tremendous offshore wind resources. Our data analysis shows that the Gulf of Suez can reach up to 10GW of wind capacity.
“This ambitious, visionary announcement sets the path towards leveraging these resources to eventually transform the Gulf of Suez to a net-zero industrial zone… [and] is expected to create new localisation, supply chain, and employment opportunities.”
The partners said the project could also send excess power to the grid.
Joseph Anis, CEO of GE Gas Power EMEA, said: “This initiative has the potential to establish Egypt as a regional hub and exporter of renewable power and can set new benchmarks in the delivery of clean energy to drive industrial operations.”
GE is a global frontrunner in the offshore wind sector thanks to the giant Haliade-X turbine pioneered by its GE Renewable Energy unit, soon to become part of a consolidated energy operation called Vernova that the group aims to spin off in 2024.
Using wind power – either offshore or piped from land – to help decarbonsie oil & gas production is already gathering traction in the North Sea, where the world’s largest floating wind farm Hywind Tampen this week exported its first electricity to a Norwegian gas field.
