Page 17 - EngineerIT December 2021

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Is green hydrogen the fuel to stimulating other sectors to make use of
these facilities, and bring even more trade
to the country.
There is already a study underway in
drive South Africa's future? KwaZulu-Natal, surveying public opinion
on how the hydrogen industry would
be received in the area, and examining
By Gladys Nabagala, director, advisory group for energy transition at Royal HaskoningDHV potential opportunities. This local approach
to a global opportunity is vitally important –
as it simply won’t work for local operations
to copy and paste what’s already been done
s South Africa grapples with in Europe and the United States of America.
ongoing blackouts because the South Africa needs to carefully
Apower utility’s grid cannot cope examine the opportunities that hydrogen
with demand or maintenance, the country presents, and to engage with experienced
is also faced by global pressures to experts that can support government, the
reduce its carbon footprint and embrace Department of Minerals and Energy, local
renewable energy resources. government and investors as they navigate
This pressure has come with the offer a successful path towards the economic
of help, though, with the country securing benefits of investing in this alternative
R131bn in funding to transition towards energy source. n
green energy, at the recent COP26 event.
However, even with the recent raising of Gladys Nabagala embers of the Green Hydrogen
the threshold for distributed generation Catapult (GHC), a coalition
to 100MW, it’s going to take time for Hydrogen Catapult Initiative’ is setting Mof leaders in green hydrogen
projects of any meaningful scale to be out to increase the production of green development, have committed to the
development of 45 GW of electrolysers with
commissioned and relieve pressure from hydrogen 50-fold in the next six years, with secured financing by 2026, with targeted
the national grid. the intention of cutting production costs to commissioning in 2027.
In addition to solar and wind energy less than two dollars per kilogram. “Green hydrogen is a critical part of
resources, which South Africa has in The country is not ready to use a sustainable energy future and one of the
abundance, discussions have emerged hydrogen-based energy itself though largest business opportunities of our time,”
said Jules Kortenhorst, CEO at RMI. “It’s the
around hydrogen – particularly green – our tax regimen renders any vehicles key to decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors like
hydrogen – and what this could mean for other than internal combustion rides too steel manufacturing, shipping and aviation,
South Africa’s carbon footprint, and its expensive for most people, and there is and I applaud GHC members for their
economy. little political will to move away from coal- commitment to accelerating the transition.”
South Africa is one of the best based power generation. Hydrogen is also Electrolysers use electricity to split water
positioned countries in the world to an expensive energy resource, which local into hydrogen and oxygen, and are the leading
technology for synthesising zero-carbon
produce emissions-free green hydrogen, individuals and organisations are unlikely hydrogen fuel using renewable energy, known
in which renewable energy is used to to be able to afford. as green hydrogen. Green hydrogen and
power the water electrolysis process However, there is significant potential derivatives are an essential solution to the
through which hydrogen is harvested. This for South Africa to stimulate its economy decarbonisation of heavy industry sectors and
is thanks to the country’s extensive solar by building and growing a hydrogen will constitute up to 25% of total final energy
use in a net-zero economy.
and wind resources, and the fact that we export economy. In addition to stimulating This bold new commitment from GHC
have a long coastline with access to water job creation and work opportunities at members, the largest announced by a private
that could be used in the process. These hydrogen harvesting plants, it could lead sector coalition, will bring global green
factors position South Africa well to supply to massive infrastructure development hydrogen production in line with International
countries seeking green hydrogen, but and improvement. Energy Agency production targets for
net zero, as it adds to the existing project
that don’t have the natural and renewable We have seen the potential of this in pipeline of 25GW. It will play a central role
resources to produce them, such as Japan our work with the NorthH2 project in the in delivering the Glasgow Breakthrough
and countries in the European Union. Netherlands, which comprises the entire on Green Hydrogen to stimulate enabling
Currently, green hydrogen accounts for green hydrogen value chain, from wind policy measures within the necessary time
just 0.1% of global hydrogen production, farms to create energy, to the pipelines frame. As part of a broader adoption strategy,
this announcement represents a significant
but the declining costs of harvesting that will deliver hydrogen to industries in contribution to deploying green hydrogen at
renewable energy and the falling costs Northwest Europe, and the underground the scale and speed required to reduce costs
of electrolysis technology are clear storage facilities in underground salt caverns. to well below the tipping point of US$2 per
indications that green hydrogen could A project of this nature at South Africa- kilogram. This will enable green hydrogen to
be a strong investment in a clean energy size scale could lead to improvements in be a cost-competitive, zero-carbon solution in
future. Indeed, the United Nations’ ‘Green the country’s ports infrastructure, in turn the near term. n

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