JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The $5.8-billion green hydrogen-ammonia project in South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Bay has been a hard slog but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Mining Weekly can report the venture, for which a green-hydrogen-generating electrolyser and ammonia loop solution has already been selected, is “going really well” and developer Hive Hydrogen is expected to make “some very big announcements” at next month’s Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town.

The Eastern Cape’s special economic zone at the Coega port is the site of the project, where construction could potentially begin early next year and commissioning in December 2029.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa's chairperson is former Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe, whose Built Africa focuses on developing renewable-energy projects in South Africa under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

Backed by Hive Energy and Built Africa, Hive Hydrogen South Africa has since September 2019 been working on establishing a renewable energy-powered green-hydrogen-derived ammonia plant capable of producing a million tonnes of product a year.

The conclusion of environmental impact assessment work on Hive Hydrogen’s 3 300 MW of renewable-energy assets gave rise to environmental authorisation of the 1 000 MW Carissa wind energy facility, near Beaufort West.

Carissa's permitting is the work of a partnership made up of Hive Hydrogen, project developer AMDA Developments, and Blue Crane Environmental, the independent environmental assessment practitioner responsible for leading the environmental impact assessment process.

Coega is one of Hive’s three green hydrogen schemes, the other two being Albamed in Spain and Gente Grande in Chile.

Blended finance private equity fund SA-H2, which focuses on the green hydrogen value chain and the Southern African energy transition, has signed a development funding agreement with Hive.

SA-H2, which combines public and private capital, has secured commitments from the European Commission under the Global Gateway, Invest International, South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund, Sanlam Life, and the Industrial Development Corporation. The fund is also being supported by the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

SASOL HYDROGEN SYSTEM COMMISSIONED

Also in South Africa, chemicals and synthetic fuels producer Sasol has commissioned a platinum-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen electrolyser system at its research and technology campus, in Sasolburg, in the Free State. In addition to Sasol’s contribution, the electrolyser was developed with contributions from the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation's Hydrogen South Africa programme in partnership with the South African National Energy Development Institute and North-West University.

Central to the deployment of the 2 kW PEM electrolyser system is the beneficiation of South Africa’s platinum group metals, which were described by Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Professor Blade Nzimande as being key to fuelling industries of the future. The Minister added that the project would generate the knowledge required to support the commercialisation and wider deployment of green hydrogen technologies.

China’s green technology company Envision Energy is partnering Sasol on the study of a potential green hydrogen system also at Sasolburg. Ammonia Energy Association reports that China is continuing to lead the way in building early green hydrogen supply chains.

In neighbouring Namibia, the African Development Bank has approved a $10-million investment to help to kick-start Namibia's green hydrogen project, International Energy Summit reports on LinkedIn. The bank's funding is expected to help build out infrastructure and develop a skilled local workforce, with officials anticipating it will draw further interest from private investors.

In Spain, the board of renewable hydrogen company Moeve earlier this year approved the final investment decision (FID) to begin construction of the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley, the first Onuba phase of which will be the largest green hydrogen project in southern Europe, with an electrolysis capacity of 300 MW and the option to expand it by an additional 105 MW. Onuba represents a joint investment of €1-billion-plus, including associated infrastructure and the development of a dedicated photovoltaic self-consumption plant.

In its entirety, the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley investment exceeds €3-billion. It will include two green hydrogen production centres at energy parks in Palos de la Frontera, at Huelva, and San Roque, in Campo de Gibraltar, Cádiz. The plants will have a combined electrolysis capacity of 2 GW and will produce up to 300 000 t of green hydrogen a year. The plants will also support the production of 2G biofuels and derivative products, such as green ammonia and methanol, helping decarbonise both industrial customers and the heavy transport sector.

In Saudi Arabia, construction of the Neom green hydrogen project has been completed and the front-end engineering design study for the twice-as-large Yanbu project is drawing to a close. In addition, Ammonia Energy Association reports that renewable ammonia production from the Neom green hydrogen project in Saudi Arabia will be marketed by Air Products and Yara International.

The World Platinum Investment Council reports that Volvo, Daimler Truck, cellcentric and Toyota have signed a binding agreement for Toyota to join as an equal partner and shareholder in cellcentric, with each owner to hold one-third. cellcentric produces platinum-based hydrogen fuel cell systems for use in heavy-duty commercial vehicles and other applications with comparable requirements.

In India, Fortune reports that Tata Motors is stepping up its hydrogen truck trials as it evaluates the technology's potential for wider commercial deployment, with pilot projects underway across three routes to generate operating data.

In the US, the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association will showcase hydrogen and platinum-based fuel cell advances on October 8  – 10/08 – in recognition of hydrogen’s atomic weight being 1.008.

In Holland, Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency reports that Air Liquide is advancing the next phase of Europe's hydrogen transition from the Port of Rotterdam, where the company's ELYgator project is positioning the country as a location for large-scale hydrogen production and industrial decarbonisation. The first PEM electrolyser module has been installed and commissioning scheduled for late 2027.

The Netherlands anticipates that around 400 MW of electrolyser capacity could be supported with the €780-million the EU has provided for green hydrogen development.

In Germany, electrolyser manufacturer Sunfire has shipped 20 electrolyser stacks to power a third of a 300 MW green hydrogen complex being built in Lingen, Lower Saxony.

In Italy, €400-million a year is being committed to support green and bio hydrogen production through competitive auctions running from 2026 to 2029 amid the European Commission in March approving the broader €6-billion spending plan.

More green hydrogen projects are expected to reach FID stage before year-end.