DAYS after Cabinet’s approval of the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy (GHCS), Transnet National Ports Authority issued a Request for Information for the development of a terminal facility and related facilities for hydrogen initiatives at its commercial seaports.
TNPA executive manager: corporate affairs, Ayanda Mantshongo, said that the Request for Information (RFI) assesses market interest in developing, designing, constructing, financing, operating, and maintaining an import and export terminal for hydrogen initiatives. This includes green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol, and or grey hydrogen at the ports of Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth, and Saldanha.
“The introduction of this initiative is part of TNPA’s strategic projects that enable Just Transition, making it a step closer to enabling greener shipping and decarbonisation of the company’s marine fleet in order to remain globally competitive,” said TNPA sector specialist, renewable energy, Amanda Makgoga.
The RFI closes at the end of January 2024.
Funding
Announcing the Cabinet’s approval of the country’s GHCS, the Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said the move will ensure South Africa becomes a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen.
“Government has identified possible funding for green hydrogen projects and the draft green paper received extensive feedback from stakeholders,” she said on Thursday last week.
Ntshavheni explained that the GHCS gives effect to the Hydrogen South Africa Strategy that was approved by the Cabinet in 2007 to prepare the country for a hydrogen economy. The strategy is framed within the Hydrogen Society Roadmap developed by the Department of Science and Innovation and approved by the Cabinet in 2021.
She said that the executive authority welcomed the hosting of the second South Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town the previous week.
“Green hydrogen has the potential to add additional renewable energy generation capacity and to support the local development of renewable energy,” the minister said. On the sidelines of the summit, South Africa concluded heads of agreements to launch an SA-H2 Fund that will facilitate the development of the country’s green hydrogen sector.
The aim, the minister said, is to attract $1 billion in funding. She estimated that the hydrogen economy has the potential to add 3.6% to the country’s gross domestic product by 2050 and approximately 370,000 jobs.
