South Africa has quite a few competitive advantages that will serve it well in entering the green hydrogen manufacturing space, Sasol low-carbon energy solutions business developer Zanele Salman has said.

She spoke during a Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus webinar, the third in a series that focuses on the energy transition landscape, on July 14.

These advantages include South Africa having access to platinum as an enabler of hydrogen reactions and being otherwise naturally endowed with available land, and solar and wind resources; being well geographically placed, with many global trading partnerships already in place with countries desiring access to hydrogen; and having processing capabilities in the mining and industrial sectors already in place, including technical skills and experience.

Sasol, for one, has experience spanning many years in producing grey hydrogen, which is a big know-how advantage, and chemicals, which also bodes well for developing a hydrogen economy.

The company considers hydrogen a great opportunity for South Africa to grow economically and to create jobs. Not only is the country able to cater to international demand but it can also supply local companies that are looking to decarbonise and access green hydrogen for their operations.

Sasol estimates the demand for sustainable fuels globally to be around 400-million tonnes a year currently, and the demand for sustainable steel to be at about 200-million tonnes a year. South Africa can also tap into the 670-million-tonne-a-year demand for sustainable ammonia, which is produced as a by-product of green hydrogen manufacturing.

Advisory firm RSS Trade and Investments group CEO Ipeleng Selele said implementation is key - “we have been talking about the just energy transition a lot, which is normal, but now things need to start happening”.

She urged stakeholders and government to take stock of the skills sets that the Southern African region has and start repurposing skills where necessary, especially in the coal regions.

Selele also deemed it vital that public education be undertaken and stakeholders be kept up to speed. She pointed out an example: if port staff are not up to date on what is happening in the green hydrogen space, how should exports be expected to proceed?

“If green hydrogen is meant to industrialise, where are industrialists at the discussion table? These discussions are often key elements missing in our approach,” she added. 

Selele believed a regional approach was key, whereby South Africa and Namibia, for example, work together on manufacturing and supplying hydrogen, given both countries’ ambitions to this effect.

Moreover, research institute Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies senior economist Gaylor Montmasson-Clair highlighted how South Africa was entering the just energy transition with inclusiveness top of mind, but with policies that are moving in multiple directions.

He remarked, for instance, how the Presidential Climate Commission and other institutions were developing their own just transition frameworks, while the Minerals Council South Africa was also developing its own framework.

All the panel members agreed that a collaborative approach was necessary to effectively implement a just transition – whatever the combination of energy sources turned out to be.