Page 4 - AfrElec Week 43 2020

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

SA urged to exploit green

hydrogen potential

South Africa needs a comprehensive strategy in order to exploit its
ability to produce green hydrogen

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa has the ability to develop a major bringing hydrogen technology into the trans-
green hydrogen export industry if it can take portation space, the focus of their application is
advantage of its renewable energy potential. quite narrow.
PwC said in its recent Unlocking South Afri- The country should also exploit its hydrogen
ca’s Hydrogen Potential report that South Africa potential in four areas: transportation; decar-
should develop a comprehensive hydrogen strat- bonising heat and power supplies; industrial
egy in order to reduce emissions and to decar- heat and in chemical feedstocks and in energy
bonise the economy. storage.
“Hydrogen is receiving an unprecedented Hydrogen could turn the country into a net
level of international traction as the cost of exporter of energy, as it is currently reliant on
renewables decline and carbon emissions are energy imports, specifically in the liquid fuels
increasingly penalised,” said James Mackay, and gaseous space.
PwC’s Africa South market lead for energy. “Traditionally, South Africa has been an net
The report said that at the beginning of 2020, importer of energy, especially in the liquid fuels
the global hydrogen project pipeline, across grey, and gaseous sector – development of the hydro-
blue and green projects, stood at $95bn. gen production sector will be pivotal in cement-
The carbon abatement of the blue and green ing South
hydrogen projects in this pipeline will be large
enough to offset the annual carbon emissions of Exporter
Nigeria. Africa’s position as a net exporter of clean
The report found that South Africa had energy and major earner of foreign currency to
world-class renewable potential that can be lev- our economy, but also to securing clean domes-
eraged to supply clean energy to the world and tic energy supply that is de-risked from supply
transform the domestic economy. chain disruptions and currency devaluation,”
It noted that countries with high renewable said Le Riche Burger, Africa South Market SME
energy potential such as Saudi Arabia, Australia for hydrogen in PwC’s strategy division.
and Chile had already begun to manufacture Looking ahead, the report calls for the
green hydrogen, which is produced by electrol- government to adopt an effective strategy
ysis of water using renewables sources of elec- and roadmap, accompanied by clear minis-
tricity. These countries can act as an important terial direction and effective and transparent
example for South Africa. regulation.
It South Africa can properly leverage these Hydrogen also needs investment incentives a
resources and combine it with a fertile investor fast-track licensing process.
and regulatory environment, it could transi- The government should also sign collabora-
tion to an exporter of green energy to the world tion agreements with established hydrogen pro-
alongside decarbonising large sectors of its own ducers such as Japan and Germany in order to
economy, the report said. gain access to the latest technology.™
The report highlighted that hydrogen devel-
opment in South Africa had been largely driven
through the initiatives of the mining sector over
the past decade.
Anglo American Platinum has developed a
fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) mining truck at
the Mogalakwena mine, while Impala Platinum
has an FCEV forklift fleet at the Springs refinery.
These pilot schemes have been heavily
focused on the use of (Platinum Group Metals)
PGMs in the catalyst plates of fuel cells.
Although these projects are a good start to

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