GREEN hydrogen production is touted as an important future alternative fuel globally and according to Internal Renewable Energy Agency’s World Energy Transitions Outlook, fully implemented, it could meet up to 12% of final energy consumption by 2050. It presents enormous economic opportunities for developing and emerging markets like South Africa where our bountiful supply of minerals and renewable energy resources puts us in a prime position to maximise the array of opportunities this fairly new sector offers.
For this reason, the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) in collaboration with The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and The Renewables Academy (RENAC) has launched a series of webinars and workshops to capacitate and inform interested parties on the current status of green hydrogen worldwide and opportunities for domestic development.
Since the first webinar in March 2022, significant strides have been made in promoting broad understanding and dialogue on critical aspects of this sector. Separated into three clusters of topics, these webinars have focused on strategy development and regulatory frameworks (cluster 1); private sector participation and the green hydrogen economy (cluster 2).
The last webinar for 2022 will take place on 8 November and sets the focus on skills for the green hydrogen economy, jobs as well as co-benefits of hydrogen (H2) in South Africa. Guests include founder of Strategic Mindsets, Wendy Poulton.
Wendy has extensive experience in the fields of energy, sustainability and strategy, and she is passionate about the role that people play in strategy development, risk management and ultimately decision-making. During the webinar, she will talk about how South Africa can become globally competitive in green hydrogen, via developing an “ecosystem” of skills.
In the new year (March 2023) SANEDI will host a number of on-site visits which include:
- The Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone earmarked for green hydrogen fuel exports.
- Mogalakwena in the Waterberg District of Limpopo – where the envisaged uptake of green hydrogen has the potential to fuel mining trucks for diamond, copper, titanium and platinum.
- Johannesburg, to showcase ethylene production with Green H2, iron & steel, buildings PtX, Green Hydrogen and the carbon footprint of H2.
SANEDI, GIZ & RENAC will conclude this capacity-building initiative with the cluster 3 webinar series which takes our attention to the environmental and social affairs related to the development of the sector. It includes discussions on the role of green hydrogen in realising a ‘just energy transition’ in South Africa; Eskom’s plans for green hydrogen in relation to its carbon footprint and will end off with a final webinar discussion on the socioeconomic context and impacts of a green hydrogen economy and renewables in South Africa.
“The green hydrogen webinar and event series align with the national hydrogen roadmap which highlights the importance of putting in place sector planning to provide transparency on future off-take and encourage technology partnerships between suppliers and clients. We encourage all interested stakeholders to join the conversation as we move forward in developing this critical sector,” said acting general manager at SANEDI, Dr Karen Surridge.
