The electricity sector in Mauritania is characterised by a fragmented electricity network, low electricity access rates, and an imbalance between supply and demand.
The report’s analysis finds that expanding renewable generation capacity in Mauritania could improve the sustainability of mining operations, which currently represent close to a quarter of the country’s GDP. These operations are energy-intensive, and mines currently rely predominantly on fossil fuels for their electricity supply.
Renewable Energy Opportunities for Mauritania finds that the country could deploy these resources at scale to generate low-cost renewable electricity and hydrogen through electrolysis.
Mauritania currently has the largest pipeline of renewable hydrogen projects to 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa. However, successfully implementing these projects is conditional on attracting sufficient investment, which in turn depends on reducing risk by securing demand from foreign offtakers.
Mauritania has high-quality wind and solar resources whose large-scale development could have catalytic effects in supporting the country to deliver universal electricity access to its citizens and achieve its vision for sustainable economic development.
The report outlines three possible pathways for Mauritania to export renewable hydrogen: shipping hydrogen to global markets in the form of ammonia; coupling existing iron ore mining with renewable hydrogen to produce higher-value direct reduced iron for export; and transporting hydrogen to Europe through a pipeline connecting Mauritania to Spain.