• South African government is determined to develop a hydrogen economy for a low carbon-emissions future.

• The Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister talked about the country’s Hydrogen South Africa program and its Hydrogen Society Roadmap.

• The country already has several programs underway to promote domestic hydrogen demand.

South African government is determined to develop a hydrogen economy for a low carbon-emissions future.

The country’s determination to develop a hydrogen economy for a low carbon-emissions future was highlighted by the Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister, Dr. Blade Nzimande. He pointed this out at the recent meeting of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy IPHE steering committee, in Pretoria.

The IPHE is an intergovernmental organization with 22 members, which share information to encourage research and development into hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and their actual deployment, around the world. South Africa currently chairs the steering committee.

The Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister talked about the country’s Hydrogen South Africa program and its Hydrogen Society Roadmap.

Dr. Blade highlighted the country’s Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) program and its Hydrogen Society Roadmap. This program sought to exploit South Africa’s comparative advantage in hosting 75% of global platinum group metals reserves by locally developing hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. It enabled the use of fuel cells as the primary power source for field hospitals deployed during the Covid-19 pandemic, to handle patients infected with the disease.

“The South African government is investing in the development and application of scientific knowledge domains that are critical for our national development and global competitiveness,” affirmed Nzimande. “The approval of the Hydrogen Society Roadmap and the extension of the HySA program for another ten years by the Cabinet is a clear demonstration of the South African government’s commitment to the hydrogen economy.”

The country already has several programs underway to promote domestic hydrogen demand.

According to the Department of Science and Innovation, the country had several programs underway to promote domestic hydrogen demand. These programs included transport decarbonization and the hydrogen and platinum valley, initiatives, as well as the CoalCO2-X project. The CoalCO2-X project seeks to capture flue gas from coal-fired boilers and uses hydrogen to turn the flue gas elements into sulphuric acid, fertilizer, and other value-added products.  

The government is also actively working to increase the supply of trained people with the skills necessary to implement, operate and maintain the hydrogen economy. HySA started, a decade ago, to support MSc and PhD students working in the relevant scientific and engineering fields. In September 2020, the DSI and the Department of Higher Education and Training started a training program for technical and vocational education training college graduates with N4 diplomas in engineering or who were qualified light and heavy current electricians, to equip them to deploy, install and maintain hydrogen fuel cells.