- Energy company Scatec says Africa has an opportunity to position itself as a green hydrogen powerhouse.
- This will be one of the themes at next week’s Africa Energy Forum.
- The continent’s “abundant renewable energy resources” make green hydrogen a viable option.
Green hydrogen appears to be a form of sustainable energy that several parties are interested in at the moment.
Eskom, for example, put out tenders recently looking for companies to help bring its green hydrogen projects to fruition for South Africa, and it may not be the only one.
This as renewable energy company Scatec says the African continent has the opportunity to be a major player when it comes to green hydrogen on a global scale. The company outlined this belief ahead of next week’s Africa Energy Forum (AEF) being hosted in Cape Town, where green hydrogen is expected to be a major theme for those attending.
“We see a significant potential for Africa to be the world’s dominant player in green hydrogen because of its abundant renewable energy resources (especially solar and wind). Africa, in principle, could have the cheapest source of energy in the future, forming a foundation for economic growth and global competitiveness,” highlighted Alberto Gambacorta, EVP of Sub-Saharan Africa for Scatec.
Gambacorta will be a speaker at the AEF, taking part specifically in a panel discussion on “Hydrogen: Africa’s leap into global markets” on 19th June.
“We see hydrogen playing a major role in replacing existing power production based on conventional energy and in decarbonizing industries that are difficult to abate (such as heavy industry, shipping, and fertilizer production). Off-take agreements and initiatives like H2Global demonstrate the growing competitiveness and viability of green hydrogen production,” added Gambacorta in a release shared with Hypertext.
The Scatec executive went on to explain how important it will be for South Africa to pursue an energy future that emphasises the need for a technology-agnostic and diversified approach. Here, he stressed how implementing a mix of the aforementioned solar, wind, battery storage, and hydrogen will prove pivotal.
It is something that the company has recently assisted Egypt with, as hopes to do the same in South Africa on the back of AEF grow.
“While we have had a presence in smaller, pilot-scale hydrogen projects in South Africa, our main investments and announced projects in South Africa are currently centered on solar and battery storage solutions to address the country’s immediate energy needs,” noted Gambacorta.
“We are committed to driving renewable energy adoption and supporting sustainable economic growth in South Africa and beyond. We look forward to speaking at this year’s AEF as it aligns with our goals for energy security, climate action, and economic growth,” he concluded.
[Image – Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash]
