German energy company Uniper and Israel’s NewMed Energy have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding their intention to collaborate on the delivery of natural gas to Germany as well as the production of blue and green hydrogen. This comes as the European Union continues its search for alternative sources of gas supply in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

In accordance with the MoU, the parties have agreed to examine the possibility of supplying natural gas to Germany from Israel in the near future using the production and transmission infrastructure that is already in place. This will be done in consideration of the availability of the transmission pipeline that runs between Israel and Egypt, which will allow the natural gas to be delivered to LNG facilities in Egypt before continuing on to Germany.

In addition, in accordance with the MoU, the parties will investigate whether or not it is possible to ship LNG from the Leviathan reservoir to Uniper. This endeavour will call for an expansion of the current Leviathan infrastructure (Phase 1B), as well as the liquefaction of the gas at either one of the facilities already in operation in Egypt or at a newly constructed floating liquefaction facility in Israel.

The memorandum of understanding includes a potential collaboration in the field of blue and green hydrogen as well as its transportation from Israel to Europe. This is in keeping with NewMed Energy’s strategic plan, which aims to promote the use of environmentally friendly energy sources.

Yossi Abu, the CEO of NewMed Energy said, “For the foreseeable future, natural gas will be the most significant energy source in the world. NewMed Energy is continuing to promote its international activity. Leviathan is an energy anchor in the Middle East, supplying energy to Israel and other countries in the region, while also being able to help in the energy crisis in Europe.”