The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Thursday signed an agreement to strengthen support for green hydrogen investment in Kenya.
The Joint Declaration on Renewable Clean Hydrogen, which was inked in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, will strengthen cooperation to support the development of green hydrogen schemes in Kenya.
Thomas Ostros, vice president of the EIB, said the bank expects to initially mobilize 1.9 million U.S. dollars of grants from the European Union and to appraise possible loan financing for larger green hydrogen-related investments.
Davis Chirchir, cabinet secretary for Energy and Petroleum, said Kenya’s wind and solar power can be harnessed to produce green hydrogen and provide affordable power for economic development and industrial growth.
Chirchir, who signed the agreement, said the joint declaration between Kenya and the EIB will improve understanding of how best to identify, structure, unlock and implement green hydrogen investment.
“Development of green hydrogen in Kenya has the potential to enable 100 percent of Kenya’s energy needs to be supplied by clean power,” he said.
The two sides signed the agreement following discussions on green hydrogen investment with Kenyan President William Ruto.
Njuguna Ndung’u, cabinet secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning, said the agreement builds on decades of close cooperation with the EIB to support renewable energy across Kenya. He believed that the two sides will develop projects that will develop green hydrogen as part of the Kenya Energy Sector Roadmap 2040. Enditem
