South Africa plans to establish a Platinum Valley that will serve as an industrial cluster bringing various hydrogen applications in the country together to form an integrated hydrogen ecosystem. The initiative is part of the government's economic recovery plans.
South Africa's version of a “hydrogen valley” will identify concrete project opportunities for kick-starting hydrogen activities in promising hubs, with the aim of boosting economic growth and job creation, spurring the development of new industries, increasing the valorization of the country's platinum reserves, and reducing its carbon footprint.
The industrial corridor project will start in a platinum group metals (PGMs) mining area in Limpopo, including the Limpopo Province Science and Technology Park, and continue through the Johannesburg-to-Durban corridor.
The Platinum Valley will also allow South Africa to showcase its recent achievements in supporting the sustainable extraction, processing, and recycling of PGMs, which are essential for low-carbon technologies throughout the value chain. South Africa has 75% of the global reserves of PGMs, which form a key input into proton-exchange membrane fuel-cell technologies.
In another development, the Department of Science and Innovation has given the thumbs-up for the development of the National Hydrogen Society Roadmap for South Africa in line with the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Strategy.
The vision of the HySA Strategy is to use local resources to create knowledge and human resource capacity, enabling the development of high-value commercial activities in hydrogen fuel-cell technologies.
The roadmap will set out the plan for creating an inclusive hydrogen society in South Africa, so that an enabling compact between industry, labor, communities, and the government can be developed. This will enable the government and industry to draw up a policy framework for exploiting the potential benefits of hydrogen by integrating it into various sectors of the economy.
An Atlas of Green Hydrogen Generation Potentials in Africa is also being developed in order to establish Africa's potential as an exporter of green hydrogen. The atlas will not only identify clean hydrogen potentials in the continent, but will also consider related social, political, climate, infrastructure, policy, and environmental issues.
