South Africa’s cabinet has given the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy (GHCS) the green light for implementation.
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told journalists at a media briefing update on the latest cabinet decisions on Thursday that the move will ensure South Africa becomes a major producer and exporter of green hydrogen.
“Government has identified possible funding for green hydrogen projects and the draft Green Paper received extensive feedback from stakeholders,” Ntshaveni said.
Ntshavheni said the GHCS gives effect to the Hydrogen South Africa Strategy that was approved by Cabinet in 2007 to prepare the country for a hydrogen economy.
The strategy is framed within the Hydrogen Society Roadmap developed by the Department of Science and Innovation and approved by Cabinet in 2021.
“Green hydrogen has the potential to add additional renewable energy generation capacity and to support the local development of renewable energy,” she said.
Meanwhile, South Africa hosted the second South Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town last week.
On the sidelines of the summit, South Africa concluded Heads of Agreements with the intention of launching an SA-H2 Fund that will facilitate the development of the country’s green hydrogen sector.
Ntshaveni said the aim is to attract $1 billion in funding.
She estimated that the hydrogen economy has the potential to add 3.6% to the country’s gross domestic product by 2050 and approximately 370 000 jobs.
In addition, she said cabinet had been updated this week about Eskom’s generation systems performance for the period ending 16 October 2023.
Data shows that Eskom’s power generation capacity is currently averaging 28 615 MW in comparison to 27 410 MW in May 2023.
Cabinet was also informed of the decline in unplanned outages due to plant breakdown to average 13 743 MW compared to 17 369 MW in May 2023.
“This is largely as a result of effective plant maintenance,” Ntshavheni said.
“Cabinet welcomed the addition of another 800 MW to the grid with the return of Kusile Unit 1 ahead of schedule. The additional capacity will help reduce higher levels of load shedding.” – SAnews.gov.za
