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Minerals Council South Africa setting out to boost local demand for green hydrogen MiningWeekly.com Audio Articles
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Minerals Council South Africa is focused on increasing the domestic demand for green hydrogen, which it sees as contributing to the kickstarting of the hydrogen economy in South Africa.
"The applications that we're looking at are stationary as well as mobility applications of using hydrogen within the mining industry," Minerals Council modernisation and safety senior executive Sietse van der Woude outlined during last week's Hydrogen Economy Discussion covered by Mining Weekly.
"The stationary applications may not make economic sense today but if you look at the future trends in terms of reliability and electricity price trends, then stationary applications can very well be a feasible option in the future," Van der Woude pointed out during a panel discussion facilitated by Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) industry development planner Mahandra Rooplall, and in which Science and Innovation Department chief science and technology representative Dr Rebecca Maserumule as well as Bambili Energy CEO Zanele Mavuso Mbatha participated.
Rooplall reported that the IDC had been driving the development of the hydrogen industry for several years in facilitating the discussion on regional and global developments, technology, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) advances and implications for the mining industry.
Van der Woude pointed out that when it came to mobility application, heavy mine trucks could not be powered enough by electric means.
"So, we need to look at alternative ways and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are an opportunity in that regard," he added.
In spelling out the hydrogen opportunity, Maserumule identified the six African countries that had hydrogen strategies as Algeria, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa amid more than 50 countries worldwide having hydrogen strategies.
The projected global numbers for hydrogen production show seven-million tons of green hydrogen or its derivative being produced a year by 2030, 32-million tons by 2040 and 72-million tons by 2050.
Maserumule drew attention to this being based on expected exports into Europe and Asia, which did not have sufficient renewables or which did not have the comparative advantage.
Africa securing 15% of that market would amount to one-million tons of green hydrogen by 2030, seven-million tons by 2040 and just under 19-million tons by 2050, a part of which would be domestic consumption.
"What's most exciting is that those numbers point to a cumulative investment by 2050 of $400-billion on the African continent for hydrogen production," Maserumule highlighted.
This does not include OEMs and other portions of the supply chain.
The export value for the African continent would be a $15-billion-a-year increase in African export value in 2050.
"The most exciting socioeconomic benefit is the 30-million job years that will be created by 2050 on the African continent if the continent is able to capture 15% of the global hydrogen economy.
In identifying the barriers to that, Maserumule spoke of Africa having a globally top comparative advantage for renewable energy production, with only China, Australia and Chile beating most of the African countries.
But unlike grey hydrogen, which South Africa produces in large quantities, one of the challenges of green hydrogen production is the intensive capital expenditure (capex) that is required.
While the cost of coal or natural gas has a considerable impact on grey hydrogen, the capex required for renewables and electrolysers has a major impact when it comes to the cost of green hydrogen.
There is a considerable gap between the cost of investment in developed countries compared with the cost of development in undeveloped countries.
South Africa's average internal rate of return, or IRR, is well positioned at between 11% and 14%.
Being chased is the levelised cost of hydrogen, with grey hydrogen at $2/kg and
This audio is brought to you by Wearcheck, your condition monitoring specialist.
Minerals Council South Africa is focused on increasing the domestic demand for green hydrogen, which it sees as contributing to the kickstarting of the hydrogen economy in South Africa.
"The applications that we're looking at are stationary as well as mobility applications of using hydrogen within the mining industry," Minerals Council modernisation and safety senior executive Sietse van der Woude outlined during last week's Hydrogen Economy Discussion covered by Mining Weekly.
"The stationary applications may not make economic sense today but if you look at the future trends in terms of reliability and electricity price trends, then stationary applications can very well be a feasible option in the future," Van der Woude pointed out during a panel discussion facilitated by Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) industry development planner Mahandra Rooplall, and in which Science and Innovation Department chief science and technology representative Dr Rebecca Maserumule as well as Bambili Energy CEO Zanele Mavuso Mbatha participated.
Rooplall reported that the IDC had been driving the development of the hydrogen industry for several years in facilitating the discussion on regional and global developments, technology, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) advances and implications for the mining industry.
Van der Woude pointed out that when it came to mobility application, heavy mine trucks could not be powered enough by electric means.
"So, we need to look at alternative ways and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are an opportunity in that regard," he added.
In spelling out the hydrogen opportunity, Maserumule identified the six African countries that had hydrogen strategies as Algeria, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa amid more than 50 countries worldwide having hydrogen strategies.
The projected global numbers for hydrogen production show seven-million tons of green hydrogen or its derivative being produced a year by 2030, 32-million tons by 2040 and 72-million tons by 2050.
Maserumule drew attention to this being based on expected exports into Europe and Asia, which did not have sufficient renewables or which did not have the comparative advantage.
Africa securing 15% of that market would amount to one-million tons of green hydrogen by 2030, seven-million tons by 2040 and just under 19-million tons by 2050, a part of which would be domestic consumption.
"What's most exciting is that those numbers point to a cumulative investment by 2050 of $400-billion on the African continent for hydrogen production," Maserumule highlighted.
This does not include OEMs and other portions of the supply chain.
The export value for the African continent would be a $15-billion-a-year increase in African export value in 2050.
"The most exciting socioeconomic benefit is the 30-million job years that will be created by 2050 on the African continent if the continent is able to capture 15% of the global hydrogen economy.
In identifying the barriers to that, Maserumule spoke of Africa having a globally top comparative advantage for renewable energy production, with only China, Australia and Chile beating most of the African countries.
But unlike grey hydrogen, which South Africa produces in large quantities, one of the challenges of green hydrogen production is the intensive capital expenditure (capex) that is required.
While the cost of coal or natural gas has a considerable impact on grey hydrogen, the capex required for renewables and electrolysers has a major impact when it comes to the cost of green hydrogen.
There is a considerable gap between the cost of investment in developed countries compared with the cost of development in undeveloped countries.
South Africa's average internal rate of return, or IRR, is well positioned at between 11% and 14%.
Being chased is the levelised cost of hydrogen, with grey hydrogen at $2/kg and
8 min