South Africa is drafting a green hydrogen position statement for the upcoming twenty-seventh United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is scheduled to take place in Egypt from November 7 to 18. Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) divisional executive for mining, metals, energy and infrastructure Reginald Demana revealed this in response to EY Parthenon Africa executive director Paul O’Flaherty during the Hydrogen Economy Discussion. The other participating panelists were European Investment Bank regional representation deputy head Nadege Hopman, Norfund investment manager Rivatshiny Mandavha, and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Climate Business market research officer Elizabeth Minchew. Demana described the IDC as the leading government agency developing South Africa’s hydrogen commercialisation strategy and drew attention to the IDC’s Mahandra Rooplall, who was in the audience and who is presently developing the national hydrogen commercialisation strategy, key objectives of which are to secure global export market access, develop the domestic market to help to decarbonise the South African economy, and to secure long-term energy security. With the macro strategy accepted by Cabinet, developing regulations and publishing projects as well as infrastructure requirements are seen as the next steps that need to be urgently taken. “There are already a number of projects covering the entire country. We need to mobilise enough funding to fund the development of these projects and hopefully in a month or two, we should be coming up with a package. “That will then allow people to openly start applying for funding but if you look at the pipeline of projects already there, it covers the full spectrum across the entire country,” said Demana. “These are massive projects – the multi-billion-dollar Boegoebaai project, for the port, rail and renewable energy production plant and the Sasol project. “If you look at the Hydrogen Valley, spearheaded by Anglo American from Mogalakwena platinum group metals (PGMs) mine, and then the logistics and mobility involving buses and long-distance trucks all the way to Durban, these are massive projects. “What we’ve decided to do is pick some of the top 20 catalytic projects that cover different products, be it ammonia, aviation fuel, hydrogen itself, so that we can see what’s doable, what’s bankable,” Demana added. Under way is a review of the policy and regulatory environment to ensure that the appropriate legal framework is adopted. Existing frameworks are being reviewed to see whether they can be realigned to fit in hydrogen and under scrutiny are green ammonia, methanol, aviation fuel, green steel – in Saldanha Steel, for example – and mobility, particularly relating to trucking, busing, railing and shipping. It is estimated that South Africa’s share of the export market could be in the region of six-million tonnes to ten-million tons of green hydrogen in 2050. Meanwhile, the German government is talking about possible offtake two to three times the market size originally contemplated to counter gas reduction. “We see a lot of opportunities for South Africa. We have ports. Most of the projects that we are sponsoring are located around the coast. We can access that infrastructure and export to Germany, alongside the Namibians. “Domestic demand is very interesting. Although it’s small and the development of the domestic market will lag export, it’s an important aspect for decarbonisation.” said Demana. The likes of Sasol, Eskom and many other high emitters will not be able to decarbonise without the help of green hydrogen and projects, such as Anglo American’s nuGen truck, require that green hydrogen production is co-located on site. “Those projects will run ahead of most others, maybe even ahead of export, so we’re supporting that,” said Demana during the discussion covered by Mining Weekly. "The way we look at funding opportunities is across the value chain, from PGMs min...