Davos 2024: Green ammonia expansion integral to Morocco’s new hydrogen economy, minister says

Jack Dutton

Jan 18, 2024

Newly elected President of the Sixth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), Morocco's Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali (L) adresses delegates at the 50th anniversary of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi on March 3, 2022 - The world has a "historic" opportunity to address plastic pollution by starting discussions in early March on a treaty to regulate this phenomenon that chokes biodiversity, according to the Executive Director of the UNEP, Inger Andersen (Photo — Newly elected President of the Sixth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), Morocco's Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali (L) adresses delegates at the 50th anniversary of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi on March 3, 2022 - — TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images

DAVOS, Switzerland — The domestic production of green ammonia to produce fertilizers and other industrial products is an integral part of Morocco's new hydrogen economy, the kingdom's Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali told Al-Monitor.

It took Morocco two decades to make OCP (Office Chérifien des Phosphates) into one of the largest fertilizer companies in the world. The state-owned company is a major player in the global phosphates market, including in ammonia. Al-Monitor reported in July that the company plans to invest $7 billion in a new ammonia plant using green hydrogen produced from renewable fuel, and experts say the project will be crucial in helping the North African country achieve agricultural self-sufficiency.

In an interview at the Hilton Hotel opposite the World Economic Forum Congress Center in Davos, Benali said food and energy security is now high on the agenda, but it also needs to be green.

Benali, who is one of the region’s top energy experts, held senior positions at Cambridge Energy Research Associates and Saudi state oil company Aramco before venturing into politics. She was also involved in drafting Iraq’s hydrocarbon law.