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Inclusive hydrogen economy – an enabler to SA’s economic recovery
Inclusive hydrogen economy –
an enabler to SA’s economic recovery
South Africa has a strong industrial background, owing to its history of building infrastructure, such as power stations, oil refineries and railways, which places the country in a unique position to build its green hydrogen economy.
By Dr Rebecca Maserumule, Acting Deputy Director General: Technology Innovation at the Department of Science and Innovation
The country has an abundance of natural resources, such as solar, wind energy and minerals that are required as inputs in emerging low carbon technologies. In this regard, South African can leverage its natural resource endowment and innovation capabilities to reindustrialise its economy on the back of the transition to the low carbon economy.
If South Africa develops a domestic hydrogen economy and actively participates in the global green hydrogen supply chain then positive socioeconomic benefits can be realised by the many in society.
In February 2022, the South African Hydrogen Society Roadmap (HSRM) was published by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), marking an important milestone in the launch of South Africa's hydrogen economy.
The Hydrogen Society Roadmap was developed through a multi-stakeholder consultative process that includes the Department of Science and Innovation, Hydrogen South Africa (HySA), academia, other government departments and industry stakeholders.
It focuses on national ambitions, sector prioritisation, the overarching policy framework and the macro-economic impact of the hydrogen economy throughout South Africa. At the end of the process stakeholders were aligned around a common vision including the role of government which is to create an environment where investment decisions can be made to unlock the socioeconomic benefits that can accrue while
supporting inclusive growth that is aimed at reducing poverty and inequality.
The vision of the Hydrogen Society Roadmap is an inclusive, sustainable and competitive hydrogen economy by 2050 with the goal of achieving a just and inclusive net-zero carbon economic growth for societal well-being by 2050.
The implementation of the roadmap is laid out in 70 key actions which range from supporting demand creation through to implementing strategic projects. The implementation of the key actions of the HSRM will be enabled by a team of experts from industry, academia and government. The government has established a partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) that will help create a National Hydrogen Energy Centre to institutionalise the implementation of the HSRM and ensure that the country's hydrogen roadmap is clearly laid out.
The HSRM emphasises the need to create an environment for the investments needed to develop an inclusive, sustainable and competitive hydrogen economy by 2050, but also stresses the importance of implementing small-scale catalytic projects in the short term. Catalytic projects have been identified to stimulate the growth of the Hydrogen Economy in South Africa, in pursuit of the high-level outcomes, whose achievement is expected to contribute towards the economic reconstruction and recovery plan.
To explore opportunities that can promote Hydrogen-related clean emerging technologies in support of emissions reduction, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) commissioned a joint study with Anglo American Platinum (Pty) Limited, Bambili Energy Group (Bambili) and ENGIE on Hydrogen Valley.
This is expected to stretch approximately 835km from Anglo American’s Mogalakwena platinum group metals (PGMs) mine near Mokopane in Limpopo Province, along the industrial and commercial corridor to Johannesburg and to the south coast at Durban.
A ‘Hydrogen Valley’ aggregates multiple demand segments along key hydrogen production routes within a specific geographic region. To support South Africa’s net-zero carbon efforts, the proposed ‘Hydrogen Valley’ can be leveraged to kick-start the hydrogen economy, which can lead to cost savings through shared infrastructure investments, improve the cost competitiveness of Hydrogen production through economies of scale, enable a rapid ramp-up of Hydrogen production within a given territory/ region, and can be used as an incubator for new Hydrogen-related pilot projects.
‘Hydrogen Valley’ expected to contribute $3.9 to $8.8 billion to SA’s GDP
In terms of the improvement of the socioeconomic conditions of South Africans, the ‘Hydrogen Valley’ is expected to potentially contribute $3.9 to $8.8 billion to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP, direct and indirect contributions) by 2050 as a result of spending on CAPEX and OPEX for Hydrogen production from offsite renewable energy supply and electrolyser capacity.
In addition, a creation of approximately 14 000 to 30 000 direct and indirect jobs per year by 2030 is also expected. These projections are based on the deployment of renewable energy technologies and electrolysers that can be deployed within the Hydrogen Valley of up to 1.7 gigawatts (GW).
If Hydrogen can become an energy vector it has the potential to decarbonise transport, heavy duty industry, buildings, and the power sector.
As a signatory to the Paris agreement, South Africa has planned to reduce carbon emissions with a net-zero target by 2050. While the backbone of its strategy is the IRRP (Renewable energy programme), Hydrogen serves as a vehicle to leverage new green Renewable Energy Systems and decarbonise hard to abate sectors. In parallel, different sectors in South Africa are launching their own green strategies (e.g., Green Steel Strategy, Green Buildings Strategy), which will incorporate Hydrogen as a lever.
Economic growth enabled through the hydrogen economy will be underpinned by job growth along the entire value chain from blue collar through to white collar jobs. Millions of jobs will be available in South Africa by 2050 if we move in the direction of a hydrogen economy.
Technical and Vocational and Education and Training Colleges will be required to be front and centre in the building the skills ecosystem that will be responsible for producing the graduates required for the Hydrogen economy. Private sector will have work hand in hand with government so that together we can turn every hydrogen workplace into a training place as new entrants may be required as early as 2025.
