The Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ), trading as Freeport Saldanha, together with ArcelorMittal Saldanha hosted an on-site visit to Saldanha Bay on November 28 as part of the Re-industrialising Saldanha Day initiative and to showcase the SBIDZ as an ideal green hydrogen investment destination in the Western Cape.

Re-industrialising Saldanha Day provided an overview of pilot projects earmarked for the region, demonstrating how the region will be a critical player and catalyst in supporting South Africa’s Just Energy Transition (JET) and the JET-Investment Plan (JET-IP) by creating and developing a green hydrogen economy.

Visiting stakeholders included delegates from Freeport Saldanha, the Presidency, Invest South Africa, the Western Cape provincial government, Transnet National Ports Authority, Saldanha Bay municipality, Infrastructure South Africa stakeholders, academia and private energy industrial businesses, including Sasol, ArcelorMittal South Africa, Atlanthia, Mainstream and Keren Energy.

The initiative forms part of the inaugural South Africa Green Hydrogen Summit, being held in Cape Town from November 28 to 30.

The summit forms part of the ongoing policymaking in South Africa centred around the JET and the JET-IP, tabled by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties earlier in November.

The JET-IP aims to accelerate the decarbonisation of South Africa’s economy, reducing carbon emissions and aligning with the new-energy-orientated economic growth set out in the Nationally Determined Contribution of the Paris Agreement.

Freeport Saldanha CEO Kaashifah Beukes welcomed visitors at the Freeport Saldanha Bay access complex, saying Saldanha Bay is the “perfect investment location to develop a world-class, globally competitive, green hydrogen and derivatives production hub in the Western Cape province”.

She adds that several reports, including by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, have highlighted the region’s advantages for renewable energy supply crucial for the JET.

“We have demonstrated our innovation and readiness to unlock these new economic opportunities and embark on an industrialisation strategy, utilising the potential infrastructure in creating sustainable growth prospects for the region and the country,” says Beukes.

Saldanha Bay executive mayor André Truter says Saldanha Bay is a people-centred municipality, which is busy with a legacy project that could fundamentally change the way youth will be positioned economically and environmentally.

“As we move through this project, we should not forget the people of South Africa and the people of Saldanha Bay. They are our most important asset in this country,” he says.

Truter adds that Saldanha Bay is perfectly positioned and ready to become not only the South African hub, but the African hub, of green hydrogen furthering understanding of the energy mix, and the role local government must play.