JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen elevated South Africa’s R105-billion Nelson Mandela Bay green-hydrogen-to-green-ammonia project to a new high when she singled it out for special mention in announcing a massive rise in funding for the South Africa-European Union Just Energy Transition Partnership.

The new nigh-€12-billion package is a streak ahead of the €4.7-billion Global Gateway figure, which was celebrated at the EU–SA Summit in Cape Town in March.

The EU, which is working hand-in-hand with international advocacy organisation Global Citizen, also used the Brussels event to announce a big new €618-million Team Europe package to support power grid modernisation for renewable electrification.

In March, South Africa’s world-leading platinum group metals (PGMs) endowment received a major boost when Von der Leyen pointed out that South Africa hosts raw materials that are critical for electrolysers, including 91% of the world’s PGM reserves, and "you have a rising industry to produce clean hydrogen and strong export ambitions”.

Now, seven months later, Von der Leyen expressed delight at the huge step-up of funding by EU Member States for South Africa’s Just Energy Transition. “We can now take almost €12-billion to our Just Energy Transition Partnership,” she said turning to South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, “and we can support our ambition to become a true global leader in clean energy".

“We need the Member States, we need our partners, and we also need the private sector, the business community to come in with the knowledge and the global capabilities, and I’m thinking here, for example, of the Coega Green Ammonia project in Nelson Mandela Bay.

“With it, South Africa is on its way to becoming a global shipping hub as green ammonia becomes a clean maritime fuel of choice, and with this investment comes an enormous opportunity. This is unfolding for South Africa. This green ammonia story is just one of many success stories that we have and now with the new investment, we have the means to write many more success stories,” Von der Leyen pointed out.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa is the developer of the green fuel project being developed in the Eastern Cape and present to hear Von der Leyen’s laudatory comments first-hand was Hive Hydrogen chairperson Thulani Gcabashe, a former Eskom CEO, whose Built Africa Group focuses on developing renewables projects in South Africa under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

Directing her comments to Ramaphosa, Von der Leyen added: “Dear Cyril, my friend, it’s wonderful to see you again now in Brussels, so soon after New York, at the United Nations General Assembly, because today we truly have good news to share.” (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

“In March, we made a strong call to invest in renewables, both in and with South Africa, because the logic is that there are natural resources in abundance in South Africa, which also has the skills, and the business case is clear.

“Important to note is that South Africa is not only transforming itself but it’s becoming a clean energy pioneer for the entire continent of Africa,” Von der Leyen reported while drawing attention to the scaling-up of a continental renewables campaign initiated by Global Citizen against the background of 600-million people in Africa still having no access to electricity.

Partnering with Global Citizen and being backed by the International Energy Agency is Global Gateway, which will culminate with a major pledging event at the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November.

The Global Gateway campaign focuses on connectivity infrastructure – both physical and digital – and on uplifting the local pharmaceutical industry.

“The campaign is now entering its final stretch. We’ll have our final pledging event on the margins of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg in a few weeks.

“Let’s continue to make the business case for clean energy in Africa. The potential is immense. It can transform the daily lives of millions in Africa, which is one of the world's fastest-growing markets and offers enormous opportunities for African and European companies alike.

“In short: this is a win–win situation. It will make Africa stronger, our partnership deeper, and our planet healthier,” Von der Leyen remarked in a media release to Mining Weekly.

Trade between South Africa and the EU is close to €50-billion a year, with 98% of South African exports to the EU being duty- and quota-free.

As reported by Mining Weekly earlier this month, the renewable-energy requirements for the Coega project have been arranged and the green hydrogen, green ammonia project has advanced to front-end engineering design (FEED) stage, so that final investment decisions (FIDs) can be concluded by July 2026, construction can potentially begin in early 2027, and commissioning can be achieved in December 2029.

Environmental impact assessment work on all of Hive Hydrogen’s 3 300 MW of renewable-energy assets is now concluded, following the securing of environmental authorisation for the 1 000 MW Carissa wind energy facility, near Beaufort West, in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

With 154 wind turbines, Carissa will clean energise seawater into hydrogen, the key ingredient of the green ammonia that is earmarked for export to Asia and Europe.

Requests for proposals were invited in July for a plant with a production capacity of one-million-tons-plus of green ammonia a year; provision for seawater abstraction, desalination and demineralisation; storage facilities that have two 7 km pipelines for 70 000 t of green ammonia piping; a 1 430 MW solar PV cluster of nine solar farms; and 1 879 MW of wind power in two clusters of five wind farms.

FEED completion, ammonia plant construction, and renewable energy generation infrastructure are focal points of the proposals requested.

Hive Hydrogen, backed by Hive Energy and Built Africa, has been working since September 2019 on establishing a large-scale green ammonia plant in South Africa powered by renewable energy to produce one-million tonnes a year.

Coega is one of the Hive group’s three green hydrogen schemes, the other two being Albamed in Spain and Gente Grande in Chile.

GLOBAL GREEN HYDROGEN PROJECTS

On the global front, the Hydrogen Council’s McKinsey-authored global hydrogen compass recently reported that the hydrogen industry worldwide has committed investments totalling $110-billion for 500-plus projects that are past FID, in construction or already operational.

Total committed capacity now exceeds six-million tonnes a year, including an annual one-million tonnes already in operation, with China leading the world in total committed investments of $33-billion and 50% of global renewables capacity.

Renewables Now reported this week that German energy company Uniper SE had filed a planning application for a green hydrogen production plant in the UK’s Humber region, targeting an electrolyser capacity of up to 120 MW, with the potential for future expansion.

Nel Hydrogen US has reported in a media release to Mining Weekly that it has received a purchase order from H2 Energy for a containerised 2.5 MW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser, for delivery to the Association for Waste Disposal in Buchs, Switzerland. The hydrogen produced will be integrated into the Swiss green hydrogen ecosystem and contribute to further decarbonise regional energy supply and mobility solutions. PEM electrolysers use PGMs.

Japanese trading company Toyota Tsusho, gas and energy company Iwatani, and wind power company Eurus Energy plan to work on a project for a hydrogen production plant powered by wind energy. The development of the scheme will come under a joint company to be established in March 2027. Once operative, the new facility will likely be able to provide about 1 600 t of hydrogen a year. At Aichi Steel, this hydrogen will replace natural gas in some of the heating furnaces for steel and iron materials.

Fuel Cell Works reports that construction has begun on a 108 MW hydrogen fuel cell power station in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province, South Korea. Once operational in 2028, the site will provide long-term baseload electricity to South Korea’s grid, powered by grey hydrogen produced on site from natural gas. North Gyeongsang governor Lee Chong-ruu described energy as being “the rice of the future industry” and he has committed himself to paying special attention to subsequent investment projects “because it is important not only to simply build one power plant, but it is important to link the region's abundant power sources to the future industrial investment”.

Hydrogen Fuel News has reported that Accelera by Cummins has sealed the deal to deliver two HyLyzer 500 PEM electrolyser units to provide 5 MW for Tyczka Hydrogen GmbH. They will be installed at the Port of Schweinfurt in Bavaria, Germany, with funding of €5-million from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. Once operative, the facility, which will harness wind and solar power, will provide about 2.2 t of green hydrogen a year.

Fuel Cell Works has reported that Lithuania’s Port of Klaipėda has marked a major milestone in its green hydrogen ambitions, with IMI’s Vivo electrolyser passing its factory acceptance test in Cagliari, Italy. The project, funded under the EU Green Hydrogen initiative, will establish a refuelling facility in the Baltic region, strengthening Lithuania’s role in sustainable port infrastructure.

Vinssen, a provider of PEM fuel cell solutions, has secured a central role in the development of a green ammonia LR2 tanker to be powered entirely by fuel cells using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. This follows the approval in principle awarded by Bureau Veritas to MISC Berhad and Samsung Heavy Industries for vessel design for zero-emission shipping. The aim of integrating PEM fuel cell systems into ammonia-fuelled vessels is to provide clean propulsion in commercial shipping.

Fuel Cell Compass has reported that BMW is preparing to begin series production of its hydrogen fuel cell systems at its plant in Steyr, in Austria, by 2028. The plant is currently being enabled to produce the third generation of the company's hydrogen powertrain technology.