Industry news | SAIC meeting the highest level of the investment: the green hydrogen will receive 10

Issuing time:2023-04-20 13:05

Article source: Miningweekly | translation: the world association of platinum investment


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Thulani Gcabashe, Executive Chairman, Hive Hydrogen, South Africa

At the Fifth South African Investment Conference (SAIC) in Sandton, the largest investment commitment announced to date was in green hydrogen.
Hive Hydrogen's energy commitments of 105 billion rand are more than any of the other top 10, and 45 billion rand higher than the next highest, Vodacom, which has committed 60 billion rand to information and communications technology.
And, as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the annual SAIC meeting last week, Hive Hydrogen's significant investment is not just building a green hydrogen/green ammonia production facility in the Coega Special Economic Zone in the Eastern Cape, it also includes building a desalination plant, To meet about half of the water needs of the water-starved Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area.
Hive Hydrogen's plan is to use 3,200 megawatts of renewable solar and wind power to electrolyze 3.4 million liters of seawater a day as part of the process of extracting hydrogen. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolytic cells typically use precious platinum and iridium metals from South Africa to separate hydrogen from oxygen. The project is working closely with the salt company Cerebos, whose adjoining Coega desalination plant needs to switch to green hydrogen.
Patricia de Lille, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, has registered Hive Hydrogen's Green Project as a Special Integrated Project (SIP), which means the project will be prioritized for implementation while speeding up efforts to achieve 950,000 Tpy green ammonia delivery and shortening the time frame for the regulatory process.
Last year, Hive Energy and BuiltAfrica(collectively known as Hive Hydrogen) and Linde plc, through their wholly owned South African subsidiary Afrox, partnered to set up the pioneering Eastern Cape plant, which is expected to generate 10,000 direct and indirect jobs.
From the start, buildafrica, led by Thulani Gcabashe, former CEO of Eskom and former chairman of Standard Bank, has only worked in the renewable energy sector, Hive Energy, which was founded by Giles Redpath in 2010, has most of its portfolio in renewable energy. As producers of renewable energy, both companies set out to balance the use of renewable energy with the long-term storage advantages of green hydrogen, a zero-carbon energy carrier.
When the opportunity came in South Africa, the two companies joined forces to produce chloramine for the global market as a first step.
Gcabashe, the executive chairman of Hive Hydrogen South Africa, describes receiving the Special Integrated Project (SIP) designation as a great achievement, given the subsequent interaction with a number of state-owned enterprises that would follow.
Hive Energy has also entered into a joint venture with Transitional Energy Group to develop the $8 billion Gente Grande green ammonia project in Chile. Platinum Pulse reports that Anglo American is launching an initiative in Chile aimed at developing a green hydrogen corridor. Anglo is also involved in plans to build a green hydrogen corridor from Limpopo province through Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Also in South Africa, Mashudu Ramano, founder and CEO of Mitochondria Energy, also announced at the 5th SAIC Conference a commitment to invest at least R4.3 billion to build the Hydrogen Valley Innovation Centre, a highlight moment of the company's 15-year development journey to create affordable, Decentralized and sustainable energy services, which will enable consumers to produce and provide their own energy needs with the help of fuel cell technology and hydrogen.
Notably, Mitochondria Energy decided to place its manufacturing centre in the Vaal region, the birthplace of industrialisation in South Africa, which is now ready to act as the birthplace of sustainable and net-zero technological development.
The municipality of Emfuleni in southern Gauteng province has set aside 700 hectares of land to develop the proposed Val Special Economic Zone and Mitochondria Energy's fuel cell facility is planned to concert in January 2025.
"Green hydrogen offers a new opportunity for South Africa to enhance energy security, development and job creation. It can also contribute to decarbonisation by replacing various fuels and gases in industrial processes with renewable energy, "notes Mahandra Rooplall, industry development Planner at the Industrial Development Corporation, noting the need for nationwide coordination around the requirements for hydrogen economy infrastructure.
Blade Nzimande, the Minister for Higher Education, Science and Innovation, told a just transition event last year attended by Stephen Quest, director of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, Antony philipson, the British High Commissioner, and representatives of neighbouring African countries that through collaboration between companies, countries and knowledge institutions, The transition to green hydrogen could become a very beneficial reality in the near future.
The minister also highlighted the important role that provincial and municipal governments need to play in cooperation with countries such as Namibia and Angola, as well as partners such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan.
Backed by subsidies worth nearly $330 million, the Dutch government this week announced plans to hold an auction to import green hydrogen and its derivatives, such as chloramine.

Meanwhile, in China, China National Petroleum Corporation revealed that hydrogen has been transported by blending into natural gas pipelines in Yinchuan, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous Region, as the company moves toward large-scale, low-cost and long-distance hydrogen transport. The company conducted a 100-day test on 397km of pipeline, with the mix seen as a means to increase renewable energy production. The proportion of hydrogen in the company's natural gas network has reached 24 percent, officials said.

Separately, Japanese car company Toyota will introduce a new hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCEV) this fall, an upgrade to its flagship hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai, Hydrogeninsight reported. One feature of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is the light weight of hydrogen, which allows hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to travel longer distances and carry more cargo.

Interestingly, the European Union has signed agreements with a range of countries, including Namibia, where President Hage Geingob sees green hydrogen as an engine of economic growth that will propel the country on the path to industrialization and create jobs.
The Namibian government began pitching its green hydrogen claims to European leaders in 2021 and envisions exporting millions of tons of renewable hydrogen annually. The required infrastructure is expected to take up 4,000 square kilometers of land, about four times the size of the city of Berlin. (Credit: Miningweekly)


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