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Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council

Coega to trailblaze green ammonia production in South Africa, says Premier Mabuyane

Published: December 11, 2024

11 December 2024

Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane said it is all systems go for COEGA SEZ to produce Green Ammonia by 2029.  

Premier Mabuyane made this bold statement on the sidelines of his visit to Japan, where he is part of a high-level South African delegation led by Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.  The delegation has held several positive meetings with key Japanese stakeholders including trading companies such as JERA, ITOCHI, MHI, and IHI. The discussion centred around securing investments, forming technical partnerships and co-financing large scale green hydrogen infrastructure projects. 

Premier Mabuyane said Coega has all that is needed to launch the R105 billion 1st phase of the Coega Green ammonia hydrogen facilitated by Hive Africa. 

"We have been pursuing the Green Hydrogen to support our economic growth imperatives to create much needed jobs and be the first to export green hydrogen from Southern Africa. The Eastern Cape is already a Green Energy Hub with 17 operation-al Wind Farms and the prerequisite Port and SEZ infrastructure to give it a global competitive edge to Eastern Cape-based companies as international markets want products that are produced from a sustainable development perspective, paying attention to ongoing efforts of reducing the carbon footprint, said Premier Mabuyane.  

The COEGA Green Ammonia Project was unveiled in our Eastern Cape Investment Conference in 2022 and was also announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa as the biggest single investment in South Africa as part of the R1 trillion investment target pursued by the sixth term administration.  
The Eastern Cape is an active partner in the Three Capes Alliance with the Northern, and Western Cape provinces to establish an integrated regional Green Hydrogen sec-tor.  

South Africa’s journey into the green hydrogen sector looks promising. In December 2023, the Eastern Cape Government supported the signing of a Memorandum of Co-operation between ITOCHU Corporation (Japan) and Hive Hydrogen (South Africa) to work together on matters of viable green hydrogen and ammonia project develop-ment, production, operation, marketing, off-take and distribution.   
The South Africa-Japan Green Hydrogen Agreement includes several specific projects aimed at advancing the hydrogen economy. Key initiatives under this partnership are: 
  • Coega Green Ammonia Export Project: Hive Hydrogen is working with Japan's ITOCHU Corporation to advance this project, which aims to produce and ex-port green ammonia from the Coega Industrial Development Zone. The project is expected to utilize significant renewable energy capacity (around 3.6 GW) from solar PV and onshore wind generation. 
  • Boegoebaai Green Hydrogen Special Economic Zone (SEZ): This project focuses on developing a deep-water port and associated infrastructure for the export of green hydrogen to Europe. Sasol will be an anchor development part-ner, collaborating with the Northern Cape Development Agency and Transnet Ports Authority. 
  • Hydrogen Corridors: The agreement includes plans for creating hydrogen corridors for freight transportation, which will involve hydrogen-fuelled trucks carrying goods between regions such as Limpopo, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal. This initiative will also support infrastructure development like hydrogen production hubs. 
These projects reflect a comprehensive approach to leveraging South Africa's abundant platinum-group metals (PGMs) and renewable energy resources to establish a robust green hydrogen economy. 

Ends 


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