Green hydrogen partnerships between the EU and the Southern Mediterranean: challenges and opportunities for coherent and just energy transitions

Aboushady, Nora / Alexia Faus Onbargi
External Publications (2023)

Barcelona: European Institute of the Mediterranean

Just as the global economy began to pick up in the aftermath of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused further global turmoil. The Russian gas supply disruption took its toll on the EU, which started to work quickly on securing other sources of energy. The EU launched the REPowerEU Plan in May 2022 while working in tandem on accelerating decarbonization to meet its aim of becoming climate-neutral by 2050. Both actions call for the EU to coordinate with regional and global partners to secure energy supply in the short-to-medium term and to speed up the development of green technologies, in line with the European Green Deal (EGD). In this article, we investigate the potential success of a just energy transition in the Euro-Mediterranean space through green hydrogen. Our analysis focuses on three southern Mediterranean countries (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt) which differ substantially in their energy endowments, energy trade and energy policies. We explore these countries’ green hydrogen partnerships with the EU and investigate the different regional challenges that may affect a potentially timely implementation of the energy transition component of the EGD. We also look at the broader concept of the just energy transition from a southern Mediterranean perspective and provide some recommendations for potentially transformative energy partnerships in the Euro-Mediterranean space.

About the authors

Faus Onbargi, Alexia

Political Science

Aboushady, Nora

Economy