Summary
The South African Department of Science and Innovation, alongside Anglo American Platinum, Engie Energy Services SA and Bambili Energy have identified 9 hydrogen-related projects, stretching from Mokopane in the Limpopo province, going through Johannesburg and ending in Durban. Across this nearly-900km stretch are industrial, construction and mobility-focused projects, which will form what is currently being labeled as a "Hydrogen Valley". The end goal is to decrease South Africa's dependence of fossil fuel, which, according to to S&P Global, seems to be on the rise, due to outages in 2020, and currently "attractive import prices", as put by Avhapfani Tshifularo, the Executive Director of the South African Petroleum Industry Association.
Mining services and yield account for most of South Africa's export revenue. The industry is heavily reliant on fossil energy, and from a cost perspective, the Government describes that converting an existing refinery into an import centre is 75% cheaper than upgrading it.
Facilitating the transition from the environmentally-stressful fossil and diesel options to cleaner, greener energy such as hydrogen is key for a country like South Africa. Allowing it to generate its own renewable power through the aforementioned hydrogen valley proves itself to be a significant step towards sustainable and long-lasting economic growth.