The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) facilitated a tour for the Durban University of Technology (DUT) to the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Infrastructure on January 20 and 21.

The HySA Infrastructure programme is jointly hosted by North-West University (NWU) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The objective of the tour was to enable meaningful knowledge exchange, provide DUT with exposure to existing hydrogen research facilities and capabilities and for discussions around the current research activities that DUT is embarking on around the production of green hydrogen from borehole water.

There were also discussions around the various potential areas of collaboration with the HySA centre of competence at NWU and the CSIR.

The engagement also offered insights into best practices for infrastructure development, operational considerations, and research alignment as DUT progresses towards acquiring and integrating a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser as part of kickstarting the acquisition of their relevant research equipment.

The other aspect of the visit was to establish research collaboration with the HySA centres of competence that have established experience in the field, together with the infrastructure built over a period exceeding 15 years.

In August 2024, SANEDI and the DUT signed a memorandum of agreement to establish a strategic collaboration with a focus on hydrogen research and development activities.

This partnership aims to strengthen the DUT’s research capacity in hydrogen, with long-term plans to establish a hydrogen research centre of excellence that will investigate the production, storage, and use of hydrogen technologies in advancement of South Africa’s Hydrogen Society Roadmap, bolstering work by the HySA centres of competence.

As part of this collaboration, SANEDI committed initial seed funding of R2-million to support key research activities and students at the DUT.

A key component of the DUT project under this partnership is the planned acquisition of a PEM electrolyser from HySA, with the project expected to play a critical role in advancing applied research and skills development in green hydrogen technologies.

HySA Infrastructure at NWU undertook to include DUT students in some of their training programmes, aligned with the purpose of the visit.

It also aimed to advise and assist the DUT with the acquisition of the bench-scale PEM electrolyser, with plans to also assist with installation and maintenance.

SANEDI Department of Science, Technology and Innovation energy secretariat head Professor Sampson Mamphweli led the delegation and the engagements.

He emphasised the need for universities and science councils involved in research in the hydrogen economy to collaborate and close research gaps, instead of competing with each other.

He indicated that this would benefit South Africa, and kickstart the implementation of the Hydrogen Society Roadmap through the establishment of hydrogen hubs along the hydrogen valley, starting in Limpopo, through Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Mamphweli informed that hydrogen research and development activities taking place at NWU were essentially expanding the hydrogen valley to the North West, which he highlighted as beneficial for the country.

NWU HySA infrastructure director Professor Dmitri Besarobov welcomed the initiatives from SANEDI and the DUT and offered the full support of the DUT research activities.

He also undertook to apply for joint research funding with the DUT to capitalise on international donor funding, aimed at assisting with building the hydrogen research infrastructure at DUT.

The tour concluded at HySA Infrastructure at the CSIR, where the team viewed the council’s work in the production of turquoise hydrogen through the pyrolysis of biogas.

The team also toured the research equipment at the CSIR, with the council agreeing to assist with analysis of the research samples that may come from the DUT.