(Astana / Kazakhstan) – Germany will open an office to coordinate hydrogen projects (Hydrogen Diplomacy Office) in the Kazakh capital Astana. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced this a few days ago during a visit to the country. 
In a joint statement by the foreign ministers it is said that a new “bilateral energy cooperation”, which is being set up under the auspices of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and with the support of the Foreign Office, is intended to stabilize exchanges between government and expert circles in both countries institutionalize. As reported, there is already a comparable German coordination office in Namibia.
40 gigawatts of PV and wind power plants
A few days before the working meeting between the two foreign ministers, Kazakhs and the Dresden developer of solar and wind power plants Svevind Energy Group agreed at the end of October on an investment agreement to build a center for the production and distribution of green hydrogen. The location is the sparsely populated Mangystau region in the southwest of the country.
The Svevind subsidiary Hyrasia One plans to produce two million tons of green hydrogen per year. The project includes the construction and operation of a desalination plant on the Caspian Sea with a capacity of 255.000 cubic meters of water per day, as well as solar and wind power plants with an installed capacity of 40 gigawatts.
20 gigawatts of electrolysis
Their forecast annual yield of 120 terawatt hours will be used near the port of Kuryk to produce hydrogen in electrolyzers with a cumulative output of 20 gigawatts. Up to 3.500 new jobs would be created during the construction period and up to 2032 new permanent jobs during the gradual commissioning of the facilities by 1.800. The agreement also provides for cooperation between German and Kazakh universities that want to train staff in the region.
The total cost is estimated at around $50 billion. However, according to Hyrasia One, the final investment decision will not be made until 2026.
The project was led by the founder and Svevind board member Wolfgang Kropp and the first 
Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Roman Sklyar, in the presence of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of the European Council Charles Michel, who was on an official visit to Kazakhstan at the time.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Tokayev also want to sign an agreement on a strategic partnership for sustainable raw materials, batteries and green hydrogen by the end of November 2022. “This is currently the largest project of its kind, but Kazakhstan is far from reaching its limits in this area,” Prime Minister Smailov was quoted as saying in local media. “I believe that our country has a great opportunity to become one of the world's leading centers for green hydrogen production.”
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Visualization of PV and wind farms in Kazakhstan. © Hyrasia One
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Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock with her Kazakh counterpart and Deputy Prime Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi. © Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan
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Svevind founder Wolfgang Kropp (far left) and Roman Sklyar (First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, far right) at the signing of the investment agreement in the presence of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (President of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and Charles Michel (President of the European Council) © Akorda
