The world’s first hydrogen skyscraper will be built in Egypt – it will do without connecting to the power grid

The Saudi-controlled company plans to begin construction of a first-of-its-kind 55-story office tower in Egypt’s new capital in early 2025, Reuters reported. The skyscraper will receive the lion’s share of energy through the utilization of pure hydrogen, which will be supplied there in liquid form. The cost of the project reaches $1 billion. It will become an example of a sustainable economy, life and production.

Image source: Forbes

The framework decision on the implementation of the project was signed on the last day of the 53rd World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2023. Construction work will be controlled by the Saudi company Magnom Properties, a subsidiary of the Saudi industrial group Rawabi Holding. The customer of the tower is the Forbes media group. The working name of the project is Forbes International Tower. This will be Forbes’ first commercial tower. The media group expects to make money by renting offices in the new administrative capital of Egypt, which began to be built east of Cairo several years ago.

Solar panels will be built into the façade of the tower and will be able to supply 25% of its electricity needs. The rest of the electricity will be obtained from hydrogen supplied to the tower. The project does not include any cooperation with public utilities in Egypt, which faces occasional power outages. This will be a touchstone for Magnom Properties. Then, according to this project, it is planned to build similar towers in Dubai and Riyadh.

The building will have two high-speed VIP elevators and a helipad on the roof. Security will be ensured by the latest intrusion prevention systems, both physical and cyber. Automation, artificial intelligence, new approaches to organizing office space, and so on – all the best will be available, which will cost the customer a hefty amount. For comparison, the Chinese built about 20 similar towers nearby—in fact, an entire block, which cost the Egyptian authorities only $3 billion.

The detailed design of the building was entrusted to the architectural group AS+GG from Chicago (architect Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture). Construction of the facility should start in early 2025 and promises to be completed by 2030.