Mauritania courts private sector to fuel its green hydrogen drive

By Bonface ORUCHO

Mauritania is entering a new chapter in its energy transition, launching its first-ever renewable energy auction under an independent power producer (IPP) model.

The government has greenlit two new IPP projects expected to add 550 MW into the national grid—marking a strategic pivot away from state-led power generation.

“All new power generation projects in Mauritania will be private. State-owned companies will no longer be involved in power generation,” said Mohamed Ould Khaled, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, during the Invest in African Energy 2025 Forum in Paris.

This move mirrors the early days of South Africa’s pioneering Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), which has attracted over US$14 billion in private capital and installed 6 GW of clean power since 2011, according to Eskom.

Experts argue Mauritania can replicate South Africa’s success—this time, as a launchpad for green hydrogen.

“If this model can attract gigawatt-scale renewables through IPPs, Mauritania will be laying the foundation to become a serious player in green hydrogen. That could be the big-picture play,” said Alex Mokoka, an energy researcher at global think tank, Ember Energy.

“Just like South Africa, which is the most successful reference case, the country is showing it is ready to create an investable energy market,” he explained in an email exchange.

Mauritania has access to an Atlantic coastline with high solar and wind potential.

A 2023 scientific report published on ResearchGate found that the country’s coastal zones, such as Nouadhibou and Nouakchott, record average wind speeds ranging from 7.6 to 9.8 meters per second at 80 meters height—ideal conditions for wind energy.

Additionally, the country’s solar irradiance averages between 2,000 and 2,300 kWh per square meter annually, comparable to some of the highest levels in southern Europe.

With these resources, the International Energy Agency (IEA) lists the country among those with the most advanced hydrogen project pipelines in Africa, driven largely by European demand and geography.

Key among these is Project Nour, a partnership between Chariot Energy and TotalEnergies, which aims for 10 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030.

The project’s first phase, per a 2024 Reuters report, will deploy 3 GW of renewables to generate 150,000 tons of green hydrogen annually.

Then there’s the US$40 billion AMAN project, led by CWP Global, targeting 1.7 million tons of hydrogen per year. It hinges on an ambitious buildout of 12 GW of wind and 18 GW of solar capacity.

Together, these projects could push Mauritania’s hydrogen output to 12.5 million tons annually by 2035, according to the European Investment Bank.

That would represent nearly a quarter of Africa’s projected green hydrogen output by that year.

But such scale depends on one critical factor: a massive expansion of renewable energy capacity.

As of 2022, only 16% of Mauritania’s power came from renewables—split evenly between wind and solar—well below the 50% target set for 2030 in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

Even earlier goals proved elusive. The 2020 target of 20% renewables narrowly missed the mark, closing at 19%, according to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

Oil still dominates, accounting for roughly 75% of energy consumption as of 2021, according to EnerData.com.

By opening the door to IPPs, Mauritania is signaling a serious intent to change that narrative.

And it’s not alone.

Across the continent, more African nations are tapping private investment to drive their clean energy ambitions.

In Egypt, the Benban Solar Park—one of the largest in the world—was built almost entirely through IPPs. Benban is now one of the largest solar parks in the world, with millions of photovoltaic panels, providing electricity to more than one million homes, according to Afdb (The African development bank).

Namibia is also courting IPP investment as it eyes green hydrogen leadership, with solar and wind projects in development to power its electrolyzer infrastructure.

Several African countries are adopting initiatives like Scaling Solar, a World Bank–backed one-stop-shop model that helps governments rapidly deliver privately funded, grid-connected solar projects.

By providing technical support, financing, and risk mitigation, the program enables private investors to seamlessly fund large-scale solar assets.

In Senegal the project has seen IPPs deliver two grid-connected solar plants—Kahone and Kael—adding 79 MWp to the national grid.

Scaling solar has also installed more than 70 MW of power in Zambia and is actively engaging countries such as Madagascar, Niger, Togo, and Cote d’Ivoire, according to the initiative’s website.

More African countries are laying the legal groundwork to attract private energy investment, with IPP-friendly laws and regulations rapidly expanding across the continent.

From Côte d’Ivoire’s early IPP debut in 1994 to Chad’s first solar IPP in 2021, countries like Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, DRC, Tunisia, and Cameroon, among others, have already rolled out programs or policies that signal a decisive shift toward privately powered futures.

The IEA projects that for Africa to meet its energy needs by 2030, private sector investment must increase from approximately US $75 billion today to around US $190 billion.