Page 19 - Energize April 2022

NEWS

Investing in green hydrogen energy

in South Africa

he electricity crisis that South The global hydrogen economy, while still young, is growing. Countries such as China,
Africa is currently experiencing Japan and South Korea, are pioneering hydrogen-fuelled vehicles as well as hydrogen
Thas shone a spotlight on the fuelling stations, and leading the way in developing this world-changing energy source.
urgent need for reliable, sustainable In South Africa, where we are battling with power generation and electricity availability,
alternatives to the coal generated green hydrogen could present a viable solution in the near future.
power that the country relies so “As an independent power producer (IPP) that has developed various projects in the
heavily on. Within this context, REIPPPP programme of South Africa, Keren Energy has been observing the hydrogen
Sakhumnotho Power, a business unit economy that is developing worldwide. With Sakhumnotho, we have already developed
of Sakhumnotho Group Holdings, sites to execute commercial Green Hydrogen projects for the future and believe, through
has partnered with Keren Energy Sakhumnotho and Cape Stack, we can execute the Green Hydrogen Proof-of-Concept
Investments to undertake a Proof- successfully.” George van Rensburg, Keren Energy.
of-Concept (POC) project to produce Sakhumnotho invests in renewable energy as part of its Power portfolio, which
green hydrogen at a site supplied by includes renewables, power generation and the hydrogen sector. The Group invests
Namaqua Engineering in Vredendal, in diverse sectors of the economy to create value for stakeholders. Hydrogen is a
Western Cape. transformative energy which has the potential to become an important energy resource
The POC site has a 100 kW in Africa as well as the world. The investment in this POC augments the company’s
photovoltaic solar system installed and investment of the power and energy sector as a whole.
this renewable energy will be used as “We are cognizant that oil and gas are not going to be the only fuel sources in the
the primary energy to produce green future. We understand that we have to invest in a portfolio of power sources which will
hydrogen. The hydrogen generated include oil and gas, renewable energy, and hydrogen in order to innovate and grow our
will, ultimately, be used in fuel cell investment portfolio into the future. Even though it is not yet commercially feasible,
vehicles in the future. This is an we see hydrogen as something that will become an important component of the clean
innovative undertaking that promises energy mix in the near future.” Prof. Sipho Mseleku, President and CEO, Sakhumnotho
to be among the first in South Africa Group Holdings.
that demonstrates the feasibility of
producing green hydrogen from solar Contact Ronnie Mulaudzi, Sakhumnotho Group Holdings, Phone 011 242-8021,
energy. ronnie@sakhumnotho.com, www.sakhumnotho.com
Keren Energy is a developer
of energy projects and partners
with Sakhumnotho on a number of
renewable energy programmes. For
the purposes of this green hydrogen
POC, Keren has partnered with Cape
Stack, a leading hydrogen fuel cell
component manufacturing company,
as well as Namaqua Engineering, who
are well positioned to provide the
engineering expertise required for the
project.
Green hydrogen is defined as
hydrogen that is generated entirely by
renewable energy – such as the sun,
wind or water. With significantly lower
carbon emissions than other sources,
green hydrogen is destined to play
a vital role in the global mission to George Van Rensburg (Keren Energy), Stanford Chidziva (UWC) and Henk Myburgh
decarbonise the energy system. (Namaqua Engineering)

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