South Africa joins race to become green hydrogen hub – Reuters

South Africa committed to producing five million mt/year of green hydrogen by 2040, at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt.

PHOTO: Green Hydrogen renewable energy production facility. Getty Images

According to reports by Reuters, South Africa aims to boost its green hydrogen production capacity further to 10 million mt/year by 2050, and create a $20 billion local hydrogen market.

Moreover, a report by the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) and McKinsey predicts a sevenfold increase in global demand for green hydrogen by 2050, and states that African nations will be well-positioned to benefit from it.

According to the study, if AGHA members (Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, and South Africa) are able to develop low-cost hydrogen production and transportation systems, green hydrogen exports could reach 20-40 million mt by 2050.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) recently highlighted Namibia's efforts to accelerate production of green hydrogen as a bunker fuel during COP27. And the World Bank pledged financial assistance to Namibia to help develop its green hydrogen infrastructure.

A number of other nations have also set their sights on becoming global hydrogen hubs. Panama has set an ambitious goal of producing 500,000 mt/year of green hydrogen by 2030 and approximately 4 million mt/year by 2040. Oman targets 1 million mt of green hydrogen production by 2030.

By Konica Bhatt

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