The second Energy Transition Webinar, which took place this week, focused on Saldanha as a potential hydrogen hub.
Following the first successful Energy Transition Webinar on 17 February, Smart manufacturing in the energy and maritime sector through the lens of an SEZ, the Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus (SB-IC) held the second webinar on 12 April.
Adinda Preller, SBIDZ Executive for Transaction and Investor Support, said the Innovation Campus webinars looked to create awareness, build partnerships and position itself as a collaborator with other special economic zones to harness the opportunities brought on by the energy transition. She said: “In South Africa hydrogen is used in the fuels and chemicals sector, and there is global interest in its use as a pathway to decarbonisation.” Preller cited two reports, one commissioned by the EU from CSIR, and another being a P4G partnership study by Ricardo and Environmental Defence Fund. “These reports showed South Africa could generate power fuels based on renewable hydrogen. It concluded that Saldanha Bay was well placed for the export of power fuels to North-western Europe and the Far East at costs competitive with other renewable-rich countries.”
The Saldanha Bay Innovation Campus’s webinar – Saldanha as a hydrogen hub – focused on unpacking this report.
Key focus areas include:
. the role of hydrogen in the energy transition;
. the areas where SA is leading in RD&I hydrogen development; and
. the type of RD&I needed to scale production.
The webinar will involve a panel of experts including Katrina Abhold, Global Maritime Forum, Marlett Balmer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and George van Rensburg, Keren Energy. The keynote address was delivered by Thomas Roos from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), with a focus on the study and its focus on Saldanha Bay.
Abhold, Project Lead – Global Opportunities at the Global Maritime Forum (GMF), works with the maritime industry in shaping the future of global seaborne trade to increase sustainable long-term economic development and human well-being. Abhold examined why Saldanha Bay is a good location for a zero-carbon fuels hub and what creating a zero-carbon fuels infrastructure entails.
The Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone’s Innovation Campus serves to convene research, development and innovation partners across communities, academia, and the public and private sectors to create sustainable impact. In so doing industry players are empowered to become agents of innovation and co-create solutions to the most pressing challenges within their sectors.
Visit https://www.sbidz.co.za/ for more information and keep up to date with SBIDZ news.
