Audio system collaborating within the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection’s (Mistra’s) ninth yearly platinum group metals (PGM) roundtable, on November 27, agreed that South Africa has potential to develop into a number one participant within the hydrogen and gasoline cell business.
By creating capacities, the nation can develop into an indispensable a part of the entire hydrogen worth chain from mining of minerals and beneficiation, to manufacturing and providers, mentioned Mistra government director Joel Netshitenzhe.
As South Africa progresses its hydrogen economic system and figures out its future place within the international electrical car (EV) battery worth chain, Mistra goals to make sure that the advantages of those emergent industries accrue to all, together with youth and communities.
Moreover, the institute is concentrated on securing the worldwide provide of inexperienced hydrogen by guaranteeing PGMs and different vital minerals stay a steady and mutually useful supply for funding.
Netshitenzhe cited estimates that 35-million tonnes of inexperienced hydrogen might be produced by 2035 and type 20% of the EU’s vitality combine by 2050, whereas the world can be shifting in the direction of extra fuel-cell-powered trains, small autos, ships and plane.
China alone is anticipated to have one-million gasoline cell EVs on the highway by 2035.
Among the many challenges for the world and the African continent, particularly, is supplying the minerals wanted for inexperienced vitality transitions, discovering the suitable stability between provide and demand, financing for the numerous bankable initiatives, and inexperienced hydrogen laws and requirements that must be developed.
Extra info and analysis are wanted on hydrogen’s vitality depth and value of manufacturing and storage.
Some electrolyser and gasoline cell producers, akin to Mitochondria Vitality Firm in South Africa, have recognized the provision of elements as one other main problem, whereas others have cited intermediate capacities within the worth chain as a priority.
Accordingly, Mistra and its companions, such because the JSE, are striving for consensus on organising a metals alternate within the nation for endowments that South Africa has in abundance, to assist decrease the scepticism and business ebbs and flows which can be frequent with nascent know-how.
“We should display the inexperienced hydrogen business’s viability by way of precise apply,” Netshitenzhe mentioned.
HYDROGEN CONTEXT
Division of Science, Expertise and Innovation (DSTI) transport and renewable vitality deputy director-general Khavharendwe Rambau defined that South Africa’s hydrogen journey began with a Nationwide Hydrogen and Gas Cell Applied sciences Analysis Growth and Innovation Technique which was accepted by Cupboard in 2007.
Authorities supposed to place South Africa as a worldwide chief in hydrogen manufacturing and gasoline cell applied sciences, leveraging the nation’s pure useful resource endowment of PGMs.
The actual targets included establishing a base for hydrogen manufacturing, storage and associated processes, in addition to creating PGM-based catalysts and constructing capability to handle area of interest purposes tailor-made to regional developmental challenges.
Efforts by authorities and analysis centre Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) have since culminated within the Hydrogen Society Roadmap, which envisions a sustainable and aggressive hydrogen economic system by 2050 and aligns stakeholders on hydrogen-related applied sciences – to create an atmosphere the place funding selections could be made to unlock the socioeconomic advantages for South Africa.
The roadmap is being led by varied authorities departments together with Mineral Sources and Vitality; Transport; Commerce, Business and Competitors; Public Works and Infrastructure; Science and Innovation; and the Division of Forestry, Fisheries and the Setting.
HySA has deployed gasoline cells at varied websites in South Africa to check and trial the know-how, together with at Covid-19 services at 1 Army Hospital, in Pretoria, at a clinic in Randburg for vaccine preservation, at Impala Platinum Refineries in Springs for forklifts, at KwaZulu-Natal’s Catastrophe Administration Centre, at colleges in Comfimvaba, at College of the Western Cape Nature Reserve, at North-West College in Potchefstroom to check hydrogen use in underground mining and at Poelano Secondary Faculty, in Venstersdorp.
HySA has a spread of patents which were granted or filed, with 70% of its patents referring to business merchandise.
Catalytic initiatives that can stimulate the hydrogen economic system embrace Hive Coega Inexperienced Ammonia, which is valued at $4.6-billion and relies close to Port of Ngqura; the Boegoebaai Particular Financial Zone, which can comprise an electrolyser park and inexperienced hydrogen and inexperienced ammonia services for home use and export; and inexperienced metal manufacturing on the mothballed Saldanha metal works plant.
The DSTI has been facilitating partnerships domestically and internationally to help within the implementation of such catalytic initiatives.
The division has recognized extra alternatives for catalytic initiatives within the Hydrogen Valley initiative, or Platinum Valley initiative, which includes mobility and industrial initiatives that may stimulate home demand throughout Gauteng, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
The DSTI final yr garnered Cupboard approval to ascertain an inter-Ministerial committee on the hydrogen economic system to supervise actions and help in coordination efforts of all hydrogen actions occurring in South Africa.
Mineral analysis organisation Mintek, in flip, has developed a collection of gasoline cell catalyst merchandise together with 20 formulations. Eleven of those have been efficiently scaled to 1 kilogram batches. The organisation is driving a strategic programme for gasoline cell manufacturing.
Challenges on this regard, nonetheless, stay the price of platinum-based gasoline cell techniques and the excessive quantity of producing that’s wanted to realize economies of scale.
Furthermore, South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan in September 2023 on creating an export marketplace for inexperienced hydrogen and inexperienced ammonia, whereas South Africa additionally turned a member of the Clear Gas Ammonia Affiliation in November 2023.
The Western, Northern and Japanese Cape provincial governments additionally signed an MoU final yr to cooperate on the event of inexperienced hydrogen in South Africa.
Within the non-public sector, Sasol, Anglo American and BMW signed an MoU final yr that can carry hydrogen gasoline cell EVs to South Africa, in addition to hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.
Rambau reiterated authorities’s stance that hydrogen is a invaluable vitality to decarbonise industries and reindustrialise the economic system, in addition to a promising alternative to reinforce exports.
She believes South Africa has a serious aggressive benefit within the hydrogen economic system owing to its renewable-energy assets and availability of land, in addition to strategic partnerships it has with the EU, Japan and South Korea.
Rambau additionally believes there to be a chance for cross-border infrastructure to hyperlink manufacturing with demand centres, from a regional integration standpoint.
“The worldwide developments within the vitality transition present the Southern Africa area with a chance to create new industries linked to minerals required for low carbon vitality applied sciences.
“The supply of vital minerals in Africa offers alternatives for native worth addition, regional integration and industrialisation,” she defined.
She added that the area may leverage developments within the renewable-energy and hydrogen economic system to place itself as a worldwide participant within the provision of low-emissions hydrogen, ammonia and sustainable aviation fuels.
On this regard, she pressured the significance of continued partnerships and assist to unlock extra tangible and viable alternatives.
