Green hydrogen a key cog in SA’s industrialisation

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau says government views green hydrogen as part of a broader industrialisation agenda.

Tau was speaking at the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit currently taking place in Cape Town, Western Cape.

According to Tau, hydrogen is one of the tools together with sustainable aviation fuel, green chemicals and green shipping fuels, advanced manufacturing and new export industries, that will catalyse South Africa’s reindustrialisation. 

“These are the opportunities that matter. These are the industries that will determine South Africa's competitiveness in the decades ahead. Our ambition is clear. We must export more value and less raw potential. We must move up the value chain. We must become producers, not merely providers of resources,” Tau said on Tuesday.

He added that through the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) programme management office at the Industrial Development Corporation, government has identified 24 strategic integrated projects, several already through pre-feasibility, backed by 40 million euros from Germany's Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) Development Bank.

“In August, Climate Fund Managers closed the first R3 billion of the South Africa Green Hydrogen Fund, anchored by the European Commission through the Global Gateway commitment secured with the European Union at last year's G20. 

“That same Global Gateway has put a further R628 million in grants on the table directly. R490 million to leverage hydrogen infrastructure investment, projected to mobilise R10 billion more, and R138 million to help Transnet green its own operations,” the Minister explained.

He further pointed out that South Africa's industrial transition pathways point to tens of thousands of additional jobs and billions of rand in economic activity over the years ahead.

“I have continuously stressed the need for us to work as a region to build this prosperity. Through platforms such as the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance, we are strengthening cooperation across the continent, because no single African country will build this economy alone, but together we can build a scale that makes Africa's offer to the world impossible to ignore,” he said.

Tau revealed that through the Critical Infrastructure Programme Fund, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) is supporting Hive Hydrogen in developing South Africa’s lighthouse Green Hydrogen project, the Coega Green Ammonia Project.

“This will not only benefit the region but will also contribute to the broader economic landscape of South Africa. This funding announcement today is particularly significant as it practically puts in motion the Decarbonisation pillar of our Industrial Development Strategy. 

“Hive Hydrogen concludes financial due diligence, unlocking R12.5 million of R25 million project development funding with a further funding application for R25 million to be submitted at financial close,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

 

Source: Original report at SAnews.gov.za.