​South African-based energy company Sakhumnotho Power and energy development company Keren Energy Investment have partnered for a proof of concept (POC) for green hydrogen production in South Africa. The partnership will assess the viability to produce green hydrogen at a site in Vredendal, Western Cape.

Representing the first POC undertaken in the country to assess the feasibility of green hydrogen production using solar, the POC site location already has a 100-kW photovoltaic solar system installed. If successful, the project will enable the generation of clean power, thereby reducing South Africa’s reliance on fossil fuels and enhancing domestic installed capacity.

Chairman of Sakhumnotho Group Holdings, Professor Sipho Mseleku, noted that, “We are cognisant that oil and gas are not going to be the only fuel sources in the future. We understand that we have to invest in a portfolio of power sources which will include oil and gas, renewable energy, as well as hydrogen in order to innovate and grow our investment portfolio into the future.”

Coal is currently the predominant energy source in South Africa. Now, with the POC undertaken, green hydrogen could emerge as both a competitive and increasingly important energy source in the southern African country.
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The production and export of green hydrogen is one means for countries to contribute to the global energy transition, with other elements being renewables, energy-efficient design principles and behavioural changes.

“There is significant potential for South Africa to create a whole new industry that can help stimulate its economy by building and growing a hydrogen export value chain.

"In addition to creating opportunities for skills development and work opportunities at hydrogen harvesting plants, it could lead to massive infrastructure development and improvement,” says consulting engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV senior energy consultant Philip König.

The goal of increasing the role of green hydrogen in energy consumption from less than 0.1% globally to 10% by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency, could enable a 6.4% reduction in total cumulative carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

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​There are several opportunities that a green hydrogen ecosystem could offer South Africa. While there has been some discussion in South Africa about the use case for hydrogen in passenger vehicles, there is a stronger case for its potential six-million tons a year production to be split evenly between export markets, and for local use in high energy demand industries like ammonia and methanol production, refineries and steel and glass production, says management consulting company Boston Consulting Group principal Keshan Mudaly.

“There’s a value chain across the six so-called colours of hydrogen energy, including pressurisation, liquefaction, hydrogenation, ammonia and methanol synthesis and the Fischer-Tropsch process,” he explains.

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In recent years, colours have been used to refer to different sources of hydrogen production. “Black”, “grey” or “brown” refer to the production of hydrogen from coal, natural gas and lignite respectively. “Blue” is commonly used for the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels with CO2 emissions reduced by the use of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). “Green” is a term applied to production of hydrogen from renewable electricity.
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Why Green Hydrogen?
Hydrogen and energy have a long shared history – powering the first internal combustion engines over 200 years ago to becoming an integral part of the modern refining industry. It is light, storable, energy-dense, and produces no direct emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases. But for hydrogen to make a significant contribution to clean energy transitions, it needs to be adopted in sectors where it is almost completely absent, such as transport, buildings and power generation
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​Impact
When compared to typical hydrocarbon value chains, the green hydrogen value chain is shorter, more predictable, and most importantly, has a significantly lower environmental impact and footprint.
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AI and Technology
We believe that Artificial Intelligence and the rapid advancement of hard green technology can solve the current challenges preventing the mass adoption of Green Hydrogen. Our solutions are adaptable and flexible, and can be applied in many use cases, across any project type and geography, and any development scenario for Green Hydrogen.

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In this opinion article, Royal HaskoningDHV advisory group for energy transition director Gladys Nabagala writes that South Africa has significant potential to stimulate its economy by building a hydrogen export economy.

As South Africa grapples with ongoing blackouts because power utility Eskom's power station fleet cannot cope with demand or upkeep maintenance, the country is also faced by global pressures to reduce its carbon footprint and embrace renewable energy resources.
This pressure has come with the offer of help, though, with the country securing R131-billion in funding offers at the recent COP26 event to transition towards green energy.

However, even with the recent raising of the threshold for distributed generation to 100 MW, it’s going to take time for projects of any meaningful scale to be commissioned and relieve pressure from the national grid.

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In addition to solar and wind energy resources, which South Africa has in abundance, discussions have emerged around hydrogen – particularly green hydrogen – and what this could mean for South Africa’s carbon footprint, and its economy.

South Africa is one of the best positioned countries in the world to produce emissions-free green hydrogen, in which renewable energy is used to power the water electrolysis process through which hydrogen is harvested. This is thanks to the country’s extensive solar and wind resources, and the fact that we have a long coastline with access to water that could be used in the process. These factors position South Africa well to supply countries seeking green hydrogen, but that don’t have the natural and renewable resources to produce them, such as Japan and countries in the European Union.

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The world’s first hydrogen fueling of a commercial marine vessel was successfully completed on November 18 at All American Marine shipyard, and the vessel is now beginning its final sea trials before delivery. The event is monumental step towards decarbonization of the worldwide shipping industry and showcases the United States’ energy transition away from fossil fuels.

The new 75-passenger ferry, called the Sea Change and managed by SWITCH Maritime, received hydrogen into its 242 kg tanks on the upper deck. It uses that hydrogen in fuel cells producing electricity to power electric motors for distances up to 300 nautical miles and speeds up to 20 knots — similar capabilities as diesel-powered vessels — with the added benefits of zero exhaust smoke or other emissions and very little vibration and noise.

The fuel loaded in the vessel’s tanks includes green hydrogen, produced in California by an electrolyzer powered with renewable solar power, which results in zero carbon emissions in the production of the fuel as well.

The fueling follows the regulatory approval in October by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) of the hydrogen powertrain and storage systems onboard the Sea Change, representing the culmination of years of cooperation with the USCG focused on safely integrating hydrogen power and storage systems on passenger vessels. The achievement of this significant milestone unlocks the possibility of many future deployments of similar hydrogen power systems on all vessel types — including ocean-going containerships.
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Zero Emission Industries (ZEI), formerly Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine, is responsible for the design and development of the maritime hydrogen and fuel cell system as well as the vessel’s unique fueling system that allows it to be fueled directly from a hydrogen truck, and was responsible for the successful regulatory approvals of all hydrogen-related aspects onboard.

For the fueling during sea trials, SWITCH has engaged West Coast Clean Fuels (WCCF) to develop and permit the end-to-end clean fuel supply chains that will deliver hydrogen to the Sea Change, as well as BayoTech, for high-pressure gaseous hydrogen delivery to Sea Change during sea trials in Washington using transport trailer-to-ship transfer.

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LARGE-scale solar hydrogen production through water splitting using a powder photocatalyst is considered one of the most promising methods of producing sustainable fuels in the future. In 2018, this research group demonstrated that water-splitting photocatalytic panel reactor can be scaled up to 1 m2 in size without compromising the solar water splitting activity of the photo catalyst. However, large-scale separation and collection of solar hydrogen beyond the laboratory scale had never been realized. It was necessary to review the design of the photocatalytic panel reactor and develop a system to safely separate the gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in an outdoor environment.

The joint research project involving NEDO, ARPChem, The University of Tokyo, Fujifilm, TOTO, Mitsubishi Chemical, Meiji University and Shinshu University (who was responsible for the photocatalytic water-splitting technology) demonstrated that in a large-scale outdoor area of 100m2 it is possible to split water using a powder photo catalyst and solar rays to retrieve solar hydrogen from the generated hydrogen-oxygen gas. More rigorous safety tests are still needed, but if a properly designed system is used, the highly explosive hydrogen-oxygen gas can be safely handled for long periods. Therefore, a system for producing a large amount of solar hydrogen at low costs through the improvement of the visible light responsive photo catalyst, the photo catalyst panel, and the gas separation module is within reach,

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Achieving this feat required a lot of technological advancement and collaboration of experts from various fields. The development and demonstration of stable hydrogen separation of the moist hydrogen oxygen mixed gas regardless of the weather and sunshine conditions is an unprecedented breakthrough technology that is currently under patent review. Shinshu University’s Associate Professor Takashi Hisatomi of the Research Initiative for Supra-Materials who is an expert on photo catalysis for water-splitting and hydrogen production states that “by demonstrating the entire process from hydrogen generation to separation on the world’s largest scale, the realization of a solar hydrogen production system based on water splitting reaction using powdered photo catalysts has become more realistic and will be better understood by the general public.”

The photo catalyst in this study uses ultraviolet light. A highly efficient visible light-responsive photo catalyst with a practicality level of 5% or higher solar energy conversion efficiency will need to be realized for real-world implementation. The group is also working to lower the cost and expand the scale of the photo catalyst panel. The current panel reactor is robust, but it is necessary to develop an inexpensive reactor that can be mass-produced while maintaining durability and safety. The separation performance and energy efficiency of the gas separation process needs improvement because the separation membrane used was ready-made and not designed for this gas separation module. The separation performance of hydrogen from hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas was not sufficient. The separation process has no precedent, so there is no comparative example which means there is still room for improvement.

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Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has welcomed the South African government’s announced intention to establish a dedicated green grid, electrolyser park and green hydrogen-related special economic zone (SEZ), in the Northern Cape.

A statement issued by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) notes that the Northern Cape Hydrogen Strategy, with anchor investor Sasol, was announced to the international investment community during the COP26 climate change summit, which is under way, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Creecy says the South African Hydrogen Society Roadmap envisions the country moving from research and development to manufacturing and commercialisation of hydrogen products and services, contributing to job creation and skills development, particularly in marginalised sectors of society.

The Minister states that the Northern Cape hydrogen SEZ development aligns with the DFFE’s declaration of the expanded western Strategic Energy Corridor in the Northern Cape.

“Over the past few years, the department undertook strategic environmental assessments to identify renewable energy development zones and strategic energy corridors, in which large-scale grid infrastructure expansion could be incentivised.

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“This was done to proactivity identify environmental sensitivities and assist in orientating infrastructure development away from areas of high environmental sensitivity, allowing for a streamlined environmental authorisation process which speeds up development, while maintaining the highest environmental protection.”

Creecy adds that, through this process, the DFFE has heeded the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut red tape and to halve the authorisation timeframe for transmission-scale electricity grid infrastructure and reduce the timeframe for electricity grid development from seven to three years by allowing a pre-negotiated route to be submitted for authorisation – which significantly simplified the servitude negotiation process.

Accordingly, Creecy says, her department is committed to supporting this important initiative for the country and looks forward to working with the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform to make it a reality.

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​A world-first green submarine project will soon get underway after a proposal to power an autonomous underwater vessel with green hydrogen won a share of a United Kingdom £23 million funding program.

Start-up company Oceanways is to build a prototype of a zero emission submarine initially designed to deliver cargo in a twenty-foot container between Glasgow and Belfast. 

As the green submarines move underwater, they will also filter microplastics and microfibres out of the ocean, and collect information and data on ocean health and acidification via a number of onboard sensors. 

“Oceanways has assembled a world-class team to pioneer #SubZero by creating the new market of net positive underwater transport systems with zero-emission cargo submarines as an innovative tool to decarbonise shipping and clean up our ocean”, Oceanways founder and chief executive Dhruv Boruah said.
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The UK government is committed to commercialising zero emissions shipping by 2025 and establishing the country as a world leader in clean maritime.

Fifty-five projects shared in the first round of green maritime research and demonstration funding.
 
“As a proud island nation built on our maritime prowess, it is only right that we lead by example when it comes to decarbonising the sector and building back greener”, the UK’s transport secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement.

He said the projects funded “showcase the best of British innovation”.

The announcement was made during London International Shipping Week, which began with the UK calling on the maritime sector to achieve “absolute zero” emissions by 2050. 

In April, the UK government legislated new emissions targets, for the first time including the country’s share of international aviation and shipping emissions.

“Jet Zero and greener maritime” is one of the points in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution, unveiled in November last year. 

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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, launched England’s first hydrogen double-decker buses. The 20 new buses are the first of their kind to be launched in England; the new hydrogen fuel cell double decker buses are first being introduced on route 7 between East Acton and Oxford Circus.

The buses were manufactured by Wrightbus in Northern Ireland, and the gas cylinders are manufactured by Luxfer in Nottingham. The hydrogen for the buses is currently being produced at Air Liquide’s plant in Runcorn, harnessing waste hydrogen as a by-product from an industrial chlor-alkali plant. Oxford-based Ryze Hydrogen is responsible for transporting the fuel to the fueling station. From 2023, the hydrogen will be even greener as it will be produced by electrolysis powered by a direct connection to an offshore windfarm.

Bus-diagram

A new fueling station completed by Danish engineering firm Nel Hydrogen, in collaboration with multinational consultancy firm Linesight, will top up each hydrogen fuel cell bus just once per day in as little as five minutes.

In addition to around £6 million (US$8.3 million) of funding from TfL, more than £5 million (US$6.9 million) of funding has been provided by European bodies—by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), an executive agency of the European Commission—as well as £1 million (US$1.4 million) from the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles.

A new fueling station completed by Danish engineering firm Nel Hydrogen, in collaboration with multinational consultancy firm Linesight, will top up each hydrogen fuel cell bus just once per day in as little as five minutes.

In addition to around £6 million (US$8.3 million) of funding from TfL, more than £5 million (US$6.9 million) of funding has been provided by European bodies—by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), an executive agency of the European Commission—as well as £1 million (US$1.4 million) from the Office of Zero Emission Vehicles.

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