Plants producing green hydrogen set up in Coega

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One of the only two plants producing green hydrogen in the country has been set up in the Coega IDZ in the Eastern Cape. This, as society continues to explore different ways to create a climate resilient environment.

Academics at the Nelson Mandela University and stakeholders are also holding various webinars to discuss this industry, looking at the benefits and constraints of green hydrogen in a South African context.

A transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, an alternative and sustainable energy to the current energy sources.

“I think the important thing is that this is a new type of energy that we need to look at that is very new to South Africa especially in the Eastern Cape. So, it’s important for us as the public to understand why we need to know about it and how we can use it. We hear a lot of stories about hydrogen in other parts of the world but I think on the African continent, specifically in the Eastern Cape, it’s still very new. It’s also very expensive,” says Prof. Darelle Van Greunen from Nelson Mandela University (NMU).

The Eastern Cape is largely an industrial area with automative industry and a hub for shipping.

Green hydrogen is expected to play a role in providing fossil free and carbon free fuel for bunkering, shipping, trucks and public transport.

“It does form part of what we would call a green mineral value chain which is how the production of steel, which usually involves a lot of energy. We would call that green steel, and that green steel is a critical input into motor vehicles. There’s also making other products which can go into renewable energy and it’s the auto industry including rechargeable batteries, those things we are not producing here in the Eastern Cape. There is potential for them to become part of the value chain which will support the transition of the automotive industry,” says Prof. Janet Cherry of NMU.

This project also aims to open job opportunities.

“What it does mean is that we have a new industry that could potentially come to our city that can create jobs but ultimately what it does is it deals with the carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere. It produces the impact that we see in time that will change to us in terms of the weather but the immediate impact will be economic. We will see potentially a new industry that’s created in our city. We are well placed internationally, we sit between Europe and the Far East,” says researcher Dr Gary Koekemoer.

The Nelson Mandela University, with various stakeholders, is working together on the green hydrogen strategy for the Eastern Cape.