Green hydrogen is the fuel of the future and will have a major role to play in powering South Africa’s growth and employment prospects.
This according to Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who spoke to SAnews ahead of the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit (AGHS) in Cape Town.
The green hydrogen economy is a new frontier for clean energy as it emits low carbon emissions coupled with a global potential of at least $300 billion in global exports over the next three decades.
South Africa holds approximately 80% of the world’s platinum group metals (PGMs) and 40% of the world’s platinum and palladium reserves which are key components in the production of hydrogen – placing it in a potentially lucrative position.
“Green hydrogen is a big part of the South African growth story because it helps us to beneficiate our upstream endowments in the form of our PGMs. Mining has got the highest employment absorption capacity of any sector so it’s going to help us beneficiate and get more and more people into employment,” he said.
Furthermore, the burgeoning sector has a big role to play in South Africa’s transition from a carbon intensive country to one powered in the main, by renewable energy technologies.
“It’s going to help us transition what we call the ‘hard to abate sectors’ of the economy. Electricity is a large part of our emissions and that’s why we are working with Eskom to reduce the emission levels.
“The next contributor to emissions is transportation but it’s very difficult to retrofit some of the renewable energy solutions…on aviation and maritime. So, we needed another solution and green hydrogen provides that solution,” Ramokgopa said.
The Minister acknowledged that the sector remains “cost prohibitive” but assured that he expects those costs to reduce.
“We are confident that with the maturity of the technology, we are going to come in competitively and it’s going to help us transition.
“Of course, it’s also going to help us diversify energy sources. It’s going to help us to ensure that there’s a multiplicity of energy choices in relation to how we meet our power needs. Green hydrogen is a big part of the conversation,” he told SAnews.
Turning to the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit, Ramokgopa said African countries must align
“The summit…will help us to position the continent in relation to how we can align policy to ensure that the continent benefits as a whole. We are capable of producing 60% of global renewable energy…but the total investment is less than 1%.
“So it is important that we align; we coordinate our efforts, see ourselves as a grouping of countries on the continent that can benefit from the endowments we have,” Ramokgopa said.
Unlocking employment
The green hydrogen industry is expected to create thousands of permanent and temporary job opportunities in South Africa with a particular focus on youth employment.
Two young people already hard at work in the sector are PhD graduates Dr Mphoma Matseke and Dr Victor Mashindi who spoke exclusively to SAnews.
The two youngsters are currently employed at Isondo Precious Metals which is playing a pioneering role in Africa’s green hydrogen economy.
Matseke highlighted that as the country moves toward green energy solutions, young people need to be more informed about renewable energy and how it works.
“As a young person, if you go to primary schools and even high schools and you ask them about green energy, they don’t have an idea of what you’re talking about. So, I feel like this is a platform that we can use to put the message out there about green energy and its applications.
“It feels amazing to be working at the cutting edge of technology,” she said.
Mashindi echoed the sentiments of his counterpart – describing the acceleration towards renewable energy technology as a boon for youth in science.
“Working with cutting edge technology at the forefront of renewable energy technology is very exciting because often times you mainly do theoretical studies at university and then you go on and work in a bank or a municipality.
“So…this is exciting because you get to apply the knowledge to solve real life problems. Knowing that we will be contributing meaningfully towards the development of the economy and the science and technology behind that keeps us going.
“I encourage young people to study sciences such as chemistry because these are the sciences that are taking us forward. There will be more facilities like these and more jobs in this industry…the future is really bright,” Mashinidi said. – SAnews.gov.za
