Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water, where the electricity used in production comes from renewable sources such as solar and wind. (Photo: iStock) 
At a recent manufacturing showcase in Gqeberha, organised by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber, Hive Energy reaffirmed its plans for a huge green ammonia plant to be built at Coega. The total investment now stands at R105-billion.
The plans for the investment were initially announced in December 2021.
Although both green hydrogen and green ammonia are sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, green ammonia is produced in liquid form while green hydrogen is a gas.
Green ammonia requires less processing than green hydrogen before it can be used as fuel; however, the process can produce more waste products. It is also more expensive to produce than green hydrogen.
Green ammonia plant
The project, one of the largest inward investments into South Africa, aims to establish one of the world’s biggest green ammonia plants, producing more than a million tons a year for export to the Far East and Europe when the first phase comes online in 2029.
The plant will have its own renewable power supply of 3,700MW generated by wind and solar energy – representing the largest clusters of photovoltaic (PV) farms and wind assets under single ownership in Africa.
The investment presents Nelson Mandela Bay with a major opportunity for green industrial development and diversification through downstream opportunities.
“The spin-offs in job creation, renewable energy generation and desalinated water to be fed into the local grid, and up- and downstream economic opportunities, are substantial,” the business chamber says.
Thulani Gcabashe, chairperson of Hive Hydrogen, said the site for the plant was at the Coega deep-water harbour, which has liquid bulk berth capacity, liquid bulk storage, large-scale on-site power generation, unlimited water availability and large-capacity grid connections for power wheeling, as well as for semi-skilled and skilled local contractors and workers.
“We also have local land secured close to the plant for the establishment of an additional solar farm with a capacity of up to 600MW. Once complete, the solar farm will be one of the largest PV parks in South Africa. Our goal is to pave the way for environmental best practice in South Africa with this development,” he added.
The investment aims to create about 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in Nelson Mandela Bay over a decade.
In February, Hive Hydrogen signed an agreement to implement two wind power projects in the Western Cape, totalling 372MW of wind energy to support the Coega green ammonia plant.
To make sure Nelson Mandela Bay benefits from these developments, said the business chamber’s CEO, Denise van Huyssteen, the organisation had launched a think-tank to reinvent the local economy.
“Our Bay is the potential anchor of a myriad downstream opportunities such as the manufacturing of electrolysers (to make hydrogen), small-scale hydrogen combustion engines, fuel cells, medical devices and wind turbines, and the production not only of green energy but also the equipment for generating that energy,” Van Huyssteen said.
Green hydrogen is hydrogen that is produced by electrolysis of water, where the electricity used in production comes from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. (Photo: iStock)
The co-lead of the chamber’s think-tank, Quintin Uren, said that to reinvent the economy and remain competitive, the chamber had set its sights on diversifying local manufacturing industries, capitalising on global gaps and shifting the focus from automobile to “altermotive” mobility.
He said the chamber wanted to use climate change as an opportunity, and it wanted local industries to become increasingly flexible and resilient.
It was also looking at ways of retaining and growing engineering talent and leveraging natural resources. DM
Green hydrogen: pros and cons for the Eastern Cape
Nelson Mandela University announced in April that it was part of a consortium that had won a British government grant to conduct an innovative feasibility study to explore production of green hydrogen in the Eastern Cape and its export to global markets, including Britain, Europe and Japan.
The grant, by UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions), will fund the consortium’s work with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa in support of South Africa’s wider development and energy transition plans.
The feasibility study will evaluate the potential for establishing green hydrogen production facilities in the Eastern Cape and for developing export infrastructure, including port facilities and transport networks.
However, during a discussion on 18 June, sustainable development researcher and activist Professor Janet Cherry raised concerns. She said green hydrogen facilities would bring more industrial development to established hubs such as the ports at Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City. But “these won’t benefit the rural communities. We have some hard choices to make here.”
She added: “There should be no more fossil-fuel-based energy investments.”
The Supreme Court of Appeal recently dismissed an appeal by Shell that would have enabled renewed plans to explore for gas along the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast.
Cherry said a green hydrogen plant in South Africa would consume a lot of energy in its production process, and it would draw on the Eskom grid because it could not get enough from sustainable energy sources that were currently available.
It would also need a lot of water, and there were concerns about the impact that desalination of seawater would have on the ocean as brine and chemicals would be released back into the sea.
She said green hydrogen would be a beneficial development if it could reinvent public transport and freight transport.
However, Cherry said she did not see it as a way to grow the economy. The Global North would make money from it while South Africa would not really benefit from a reduction in carbon emissions.
As such facilities were established in special economic zones, she added, it was unlikely that there would be a tax benefit to the country either.
But this picture could change if hydrogen were used in local industries.
She warned that if desalination harmed the ocean’s ecology, fishing communities would suffer.
What is green hydrogen?
Hydrogen (H2) is a chemical element with an atom that consists of only one proton and one electron. At room temperature and atmospheric pressure, it is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and highly combustible gas.
Hydrogen is used as a raw material and fuel in a number of industrial processes. It burns without emitting greenhouse gases. Water is the only product.
Green hydrogen is hydrogen that is produced by electrolysis of water, where the electricity used in production comes from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. Green hydrogen can possibly replace fossil fuels with a zero-emissions fuel. Although hydrogen is a colourless gas, it is labelled with different colours to distinguish between different production processes. The process does not produce any carbon dioxide. However, it is expensive to produce.
Blue hydrogen
Also known as low-carbon hydrogen, this is created by combining natural gas and heated water in the form of steam. The output is hydrogen, but carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct. Carbon capture is used to prevent the carbon dioxide from escaping into the environment.
Grey hydrogen
Currently, this is the most common form of hydrogen production. Grey hydrogen is created from natural gas, or methane, using steam methane reformation but without capturing the greenhouse gases made in the process. Grey hydrogen is essentially the same as blue hydrogen, but without the use of carbon capture and storage.
Black and brown hydrogen
This is the opposite of green hydrogen. It uses black coal or lignite to make hydrogen. It is an environmentally damaging process.
Pink hydrogen
Pink hydrogen is generated by electrolysis powered by nuclear energy.
Yellow hydrogen
Yellow hydrogen is a recent term for hydrogen made by electrolysis using solar power.
Why should you care?
South Africa is ranked 14th in the world for greenhouse gas emissions, most of which are produced by the way we generate electricity. By providing a greener alternative fuel for shipping and large trucks and for power to energy-intensive industries, the country can significantly reduce its emissions.
Green hydrogen does have limitations, says Ronald Wesso from Beneficial Technologies, but it can replace fossil fuels in certain cases. Although it cannot be a major contributor to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it does have enormous potential to help. DM
Sources: Ronald Wesso, Nelson Mandela University Green Hydrogen Knowledge Hub, National Grid.
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
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