JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – On-site produced green hydrogen can play a huge role in solving the energy crisis as it eliminates the challenges associated with building electricity distribution networks over vast distances, says the CEO of Hydrox Holdings Corrie de Jager.
“Access to reliable energy can be the catalyst for improving the lives of many, and with access to electricity the potential of the people of Africa can be developed,” De Jager points out in a statement to Engineering News & Mining Weekly.
Hydrox’s proudly diverging electrode flows through (DEFTTM) technology, which has already received the South African National Science and Technology Forum’s National Innovation Award, last year won top recognition in Monaco at the principality’s inaugural Hydrogen Forum.
DEFT allows hydrogen-producing electrolytes to operate without membranes at higher temperatures, resulting in significantly improved electrical performance.
The African Hydrogen Partnership estimates that more than 600 million people in Africa do not have access to electricity. “Replacing paraffin and diesel with methanol and hydrogen will have a huge impact on people’s lives,” says De Jager.
“At conference after conference we learn of grand plans and huge sums of money available for green hydrogen development in South Africa, but the execution of these plans is sadly lacking.
“Many engineers and companies, including ourselves, who have the technology and know-how to immediately implement hydrogen-related projects face the harsh reality that access to finance is almost impossible.
“Relevant government departments, and even the venture capital firms that control these funds, are so busy de-risking projects that smaller businesses are unable to access finance – and in the process South Africa is losing valuable skills and technology ». He says.
Hydrox estimates that membrane-free DEFT has the potential to reduce hydrogen production costs by up to 30%.
The vision when Hydrox beat 15 global strongholds, including the US, Europe, Canada, Australia and India to win the Monoco award, was that the principality could use homegrown technology in a marine context.
“They’ve got these huge motor boats out there in the harbour, huge, all using diesel, and they want to replace diesel with green hydrogen – just like the countries next to them, like Spain and Italy, Gibraltar and Malta. They all approached us. They have a huge need to get into the green hydrogen space,” De Jager said Engineering News & Mining Weekly last December.
There is much excitement about South Africa’s plans to harness our abundant sunshine and to a lesser extent our wind resources to build green hydrogen industries for export to Europe and Japan.
“This is great news for all our green pundits, but from a purely practical point of view, it is difficult to see how we in South Africa can compete in the export market,” he says.
Australia is investing heavily in green hydrogen. The existing pipelines of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, with already developing green hydrogen belts, can pump methanol at low cost. Namibia, with its existing infrastructure, receives financial support from Germany. and Spain, with significant solar and wind resources, is developing its own green hydrogen industries.
Germany is completing a study that shows South Africa needs to become more competitive.
At the end of the month, Hydrox will once again present in Monaco, where it will highlight a solution for large-scale energy storage with high energy efficiency.
DEFT, without a membrane, allows higher temperature production and can operate off seawater and treated acid mine water.
Typical electrolyzers use a heat exchanger system to remove excess heat so that it does not exceed the maximum operating temperature of the membrane. In DEFT, this excess temperature can be locked in to improve system performance, thereby reducing operating costs and hydrogen costs. The system can also handle fluctuating currents, making it suitable for renewable energy and green hydrogen.
One of the Randburg-based company’s early targets, as reported by Engineering News & Mining Weekly, was to produce hydrogen below R100/kg, making it cost competitive with petrol. His vision at that stage was to make hydrogen easily accessible to the public by adopting the pump model once used at petrol stations by the long-defunct Satmar and later by Sasol in its early days.