The Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, signs a joint declaration of intent with the German government

The Minister of Electricity has on behalf of the South African Government, signed a joint declaration of intent with the German Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Mr Robert Habeck on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. The signing took take place virtually during a Bi-National Commission between South Africa and Germany.

The purpose of the joint declaration of intent is the establishment of a South African German Hydrogen Task Force that will assist to drive the commercial viability of green hydrogen projects, industry and infrastructure in South Africa and Germany.

The Joint Declaration of Intent is not legally binding nor does it have financial implications for the Republic of South Africa, it’s sole purpose is to create a South African-German Hydrogen Task Force within the framework of the South African – German Energy Partnership. The Task Force will have the following objectives:

1. To formalize the bilateral exchange of information and assessments on upscaling green hydrogen in the respective countries;

2. To support the establishment of lighthouse projects resulting in recommendations for the political dialogue;

3. To facilitate market access and to promote trade of green hydrogen and PtX products between South Africa and Germany; and

4. To promote the creation of a network between government, industry, and research institutes from both countries.

The Task Force will be characterized by the following priorities:

1. Acting as a platform for knowledge and information sharing about building and upscaling a green hydrogen economy in South Africa and Germany;

2. Exploring opportunities to support the export of green hydrogen products and PtX products from South Africa to Germany, by e.g. providing support for bilateral contracts between South African producers and German off-takers, exploring partnership opportunities between ports, etc;

3. Identifying key challenges to be tackled to support the development of the South African and German value creation chain, incl. assisting grey hydrogen producers in their transition from grey to green hydrogen, supporting manufactures of electrolysers and other critical components to identify business opportunities; and

4. Exploring available funding mechanisms to support the market ramp up of green hydrogen and PtX value chains, e.g. region-specific H2Global tenders for sub-Saharan Africa.

The potential of green hydrogen to decarbonize ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors, which are sectors that cannot be fully decarbonized through renewable energy and direct electrification or through renewable energy and battery storage, has resulted in recent, significant interest. As such the Ministry of Electricity in the Presidency see’s three broad commercialization lanes for green hydrogen South Africa.

The Country’s Investment Strategy aims to position South Africa as a key preferred African investment destination by attracting and facilitating quality Foreign and Domestic Direct Investment into the country, in a well co-ordinated manner, anchored by quality institutions and robust economic infrastructure networks.

This is in the country’s important endeavor of advancing its National Development Plan (NDP) target of 30 percent of Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.

The Country Investment Strategy identifies 5 Big Frontiers. These are nascent sectors with the potential to have a transportive role on South Africa’s economy. One of the Big Frontier is green hydrogen due to its ability to place South Africa at the global forefront of green energy.

Source: Government of South Africa