The Tunisian government is preparing to establish a huge project to produce 200,000 tons of green hydrogen annually, using renewable energy from wind and solar farms, in cooperation with the French energy company Total Energies and Verbund, an Austrian utility company.

The project, called H2 Notus, aims to convert hydrogen into a liquid and transport it through the planned H2 Corridor pipeline, which will connect North Africa to Italy, Austria and Germany.

This project is an important step towards achieving the goals of Tunisia and Europe to decarbonize their economies, reduce the continent’s dependence on Russian natural gas, enhance energy security, and create new economic opportunities.

The project faces financing and technical challenges, requiring billions of dollars in investments to build a production plant, renewable energy with a capacity of 3 gigawatts, and a pipeline linking southern and northern Tunisia.

A final investment decision is expected by 2027, with the possibility of other companies in Germany and Austria participating in the purchase of clean hydrogen.