President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to officially open and deliver a keynote address at the inaugural South Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The Western and Northern Cape authorities have committed to partnering with Namibia in a bid to create a green hydrogen investment corridor in the SADC region located in Saldanha Bay on the west coast.
Green hydrogen involves extracting hydrogen from water using solar or wind energy.
Free Port Saldanha CEO Kaashifah Beukes says the area has great potential.
“The second CSIR study, funded by the South Africa-EU Partnership for Growth, did a very in-depth analysis of the demand potential from Saldanha and Cape Town, and the ArcelorMittal team shared that they needed about 104 kilotons per year. To put this in perspective, Japan has stated in its decarbonisation journey that it wants 400 kilotons by 2030. Only one plant in South Africa requires 100 kilotons. So the market for South Africa is huge.”
The summit showcases the country’s proposition as a large-scale, low-cost, world-class hub for green hydrogen production and investment in the overall value chain.
SABC News reporter Atule Joka reports from the summit:
Meanwhile, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says: “This corridor is an opportunity for Namibia, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape, but we have to make sure they are all brought together. In this province, it is not only about obtaining the energy part. If we can’t get things right by 2030, we will start losing agricultural market share in our core market.”
