Page 11 - AfrElec Week 34

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

Green hydrogen needs more

government backing

GLOBAL CURRENT growth rates in the global green Por said that “for new projects to be success-
hydrogen industry are just not high enough to ful, more public-private efforts are necessary for
meet global energy demand, with massive cap- green hydrogen supply to overcome apparent
ital shortfalls and government inaction stalling obstacles.”
start-ups. The manufacture of electrolysers, fuel cells
That is the conclusion of a recent report from and associated equipment (hydrogen compres-
the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial sors, boilers, drive trains, storage tanks, bun-
Analysis (IEEFA), even though it welcomed the kering facilities, pipelines, sensors, measuring
announcement so far in 2020 of 50 new projects. equipment and liquefaction plants) would need

Report author Yong Por said that based on to be significantly scaled up, while seaborne
his analysis of the 50 new projects, the supply of hydrogen transportation costs would need to be
global green hydrogen is likely to be only 3mn substantial lowered.
tonnes per year (tpy) by 2030. The report also warned that China, Japan and
This is way below the 8.7mn tpy forecast for South Korea’s strategies were primarily focused
2030, showing an incredible supply shortfall. on blue hydrogen (produced from fossil fuels
“Asia, Europe and Australia are backing the with carbon capture) or grey hydrogen (which
majority of new green hydrogen projects,” said relies on fossil gas and coal-based feedstocks
Por. with zero carbon abatement), rather than the
The European Union is also a major player, renewable-rich green hydrogen.
with green hydrogen projects backed by improv- Por found the EU’s July 2020 hydrogen plan
ing economics, falling renewable costs, the to be the most ambitious, being the only plan
option to produce hydrogen on-site economi- with a key focus on green hydrogen.
cally, and existing gas pipelines that can be used “Governments need to urgently back this
for transport to meet local demand. industry by developing policy settings encourag-
He warned that many of the 50 projects could ing private industry to invest the much-needed
face delays owing to uncertain financing, cum- capital, given the industry must ‘learn by doing’,”
bersome joint venture structures, and unfavour- said Por.™
able seaborne trade economics.

TITLE MIDDLE (WITHOUT NUMBER)

POLICY this research was conducted through a human Average share of women working in
resources (HR)-focused questionnaire. technical positions was 15% in the African
World Bank highlights institutions, primarily public and private countries and 2% in Pakistan. Most women
The questionnaire was sent to energy
work in office-based corporate functions, such
gender roles in power power utilities, in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, as HR, finance, and customer service.
and Zambia in 2019 and early 2020. It
The majority of employees in the
sector was completed by 12 organizations – half respondent companies, including women,
work in junior or non-supervisory positions.
in Pakistan, and half in the three African
<pstyle:3>Increasing female economic countries. The total combined staff footprint In the three African countries, women
participation, enhancing income-earning of the surveyed utilities is 92,727 people, of are more likely to assume managerial
opportunities, and improving women’s access whom roughly 56% are in Pakistan. roles, particularly in mid-management,
to good quality jobs are focus areas of the By analyzing each utility’s policies along accounting for 25% of those positions
World Bank Group Gender Strategy. However, with the sex-disaggregated data it provided, (although variations between companies were
lack of sex-disaggregated data remains a we can create a gender snapshot of each significant). In Pakistan, women represent 7%
key barrier to designing interventions and company participating in the research. By of mid-level managerial positions, and even
monitoring their impacts. aggregating the data by country or region, as less at the senior and executive levels, at 2%
With funding from the UK Department for we do here, it is possible to clarify women’s and 4% respectively.
International Development (DFID)/Energy roles in the sector and identify job categories WORLD BANK
and Economic Growth Program (EEG), the where gender discrepancies may be greatest.
World Bank’s Energy Sector Management The survey findings from Pakistan, Former Power Africa
Assistance Program (ESMAP) is leading an Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zambia confirmed the
in-depth study on employment in the energy low number of women working in the power coordinator Andrew
sector. sector.
Led by the Africa Gender and Energy On average, women constituted 21% of Herscowitz wins lifetime
Program and the South Asia Women in Power the overall workforce in energy utilities in the
Sector Professional Network (WePOWER), African countries, and 4% in Pakistan.

Week 34 27•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11