Page 11 - AfrOil Week 03 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

The company will be subjected to due diligence at work considering those envisioned changes.
and have its environmental practices scrutinised The project relies on other existing pieces of leg-
in the process. islation, such as the Nature Conservation Act,”
Following the conclusion of a feasibility Mnyupe said.
study and sign-off by the government, Hyphen The green hydrogen project will be set up in
Hydrogen Energy will be granted the right to a small area zoned for exploration in the Tsau
construct and operate the project for a 40-year Khaeb National Park, a coastal diamond-min-
period. The first phase is expected to enter pro- ing area in the Namib Desert with abundant
duction in 2026. wind and solar resources.
Kandjoze explained that much of the regu- “This park is the very basis for our future
lation’s principle would revolve around current emerging industry. We will look into how we
knowledge of the industry. “But there are speci- can position what we now know as a very strong
alities around it ... There are important lessons emerging industry, which is green hydrogen
from it [the existing acts].” ammonia,” Kandjoze said.
Kandjoze says green hydrogen is an energy Mnyupe said the next step is for his gov-
form with technical aspects which need to be ernment to enter into final negotiations with
part of the law. “The implications of this may Hyphen, which will aim to finalise key aspects
present the need for it to be legislated differ- of the envisioned agreement. “A key update on
ently,” he said. these negotiations should be available at the end
Presidential economic adviser and hydro- of the first quarter of 2022,” he said, adding that
gen commissioner James Mnyupe agreed that on the conclusion of those negotiations, Hyphen
the green hydrogen project would require the should become the selected developer to con-
augmentation of some pieces of legislation. duct feasibility studies to consider the viability
“Our petroleum commissioner is already hard of the construction of the project. ™

South African NGOs prepare to fight off

more seismic surveys after court victory

SOUTH AFRICA AFTER winning a court case that halted energy
giant Royal Dutch Shell’s controversial seis-
mic survey off South Africa’s Wild Coast, local
environmentalists are getting ready to do battle
again. This time, they aim to stop other seismic
surveys from taking place around the country’s
coastline.
The civil society organisation We Are South
Africans has raised the alarm about an Aus-
tralian company that has received approval to
conduct a seismic survey off the West Coast of
South Africa.
We Are South Africans said in a statement Shell hired the Amazon Warrior for its 3D survey (Image: Shearwater GeoServices)
that an Australian geoscience data supplier,
Searcher Seismic, had been awarded a recon- this year.
naissance permit by Petroleum Agency SA The area to be covered by the permit is
(PASA) in May of last year. approximately 297,089 square km and is 20 km
PASA is the relevant regulation (and promo- from the coast, according to Searcher’s envi-
tion) body for the country, while a reconnais- ronmental management plan. In terms of water
sance permit allows the holder to undertake depth, it covers a range from approximately 100
geological, geophysical or photogeological sur- metres to over 4,500 metres.
veys and is valid for a year. The Amazon Warrior – the vessel owned by
PASA did not elaborate why the project was Sherwater GeoServices that was to conduct a
being undertaken by Searcher. But it did indi- survey off the Wild Coast on behalf of Shell –
cate that this was a “multi-client speculative” 2D left the country’s waters two weeks ago, after a
and 3D seismic survey programme that would court ruled that the multinational company had
cover a number of licence areas on the West and to stop its seismic surveys.
South-West Coasts between the Namibian bor- The tests, which had commenced on Decem-
der and Cape Agulhas. The survey could last as ber 8, had provoked widespread anger in South
long as 180 days – between January and May of Africa, leading to protests and court actions.

Week 03 19•January•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11