Two sentiments echoed throughout the second South Africa Green Hydrogen Summit: Firstly, moving from talks to action. And the importance of collaboration, embodied in the African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
In Cape Town, high-level policymakers, business leaders, investors, and civil society stakeholders came together to take stock on the progress made since last year’s Summit and reiterated the critical role of green hydrogen in addressing South Africa's electricity challenges and fostering sustainable economic development. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister in the Presidency for Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa set the tone by underlining the government's dedication to creating an enabling environment for green hydrogen and PtX projects.
Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa also highlighted the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance, which he currently chairs for South Africa. The Alliance, which currently has six member countries, aims to foster greater collaboration and accelerate the progress of green hydrogen projects across the African continent. It focuses on public and regulatory policy development, capacity building, financing mechanisms and certification standards, all aimed at catalysing green hydrogen production for both domestic use and export ventures. Angola and Ethiopia are expected to join soon.
One of the highlights of the Summit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Director-Generals of three coastal South African provinces of the Eastern, Northern and Western Cape signifying a united front in advancing infrastructure, skills development, policy and regulatory frameworks. They also reiterated their plan to build a Namibia-South Africa Green Hydrogen Corridor.
The Summit also saw the inaugural meeting of the South African-German Green Hydrogen Taskforce. Following Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa and German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck's signing of a joint declaration in June, the task force resolved to jointly promote lighthouse projects, work towards the green transition of exiting industrial assets and collaborate on infrastructure, policy and skills development.
Next to the Summit, a second Women in Green Hydrogen breakfast to enable networking among women leaders in the sector took place. Notably, Priscilla Mabelane, Executive Vice President of Sasol, gave an inspiring keynote speech on not leaving women affected by a lack of energy access behind. |