The proposed site of the Coega Green Ammonia (CGA) project in the Coega Special Economic Zone in Gqeberha. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is investing R1 billion in the project, which is led by Hive. Construction is expected to start this year.
Hive Hydrogen South Africa said it’s selected Topsoe to supply it with about $1 billion (R16.6 billion) in equipment for its green ammonia project at Coega in the Eastern Cape.
The Danish company will provide Hive Hydrogen, a joint venture between the UK’s Hive Energy and South Africa’s BuiltAfrica Group, with electrolyser and ammonia synthesising equipment, Hive said in a statement.
The project, scheduled to start up in 2030 and to produce a million tonnes of green ammonia a year, is expected to cost more than $5 billion (R83 billion).
South Africa, with ample solar and wind power potential, is vying with competitors including neighbouring Namibia to become a leading producer of green hydrogen, which is being touted as a way to decarbonise heavy industry and shipping.
It’s generated by using renewable energy to split water molecules, yielding hydrogen, which is then synthesised into a clean-energy source. Hive’s project at the port of Coega is the most advanced of major investment plans using the technology in the country.
The efficiency of the equipment “means we can reduce capital expenditure on renewables by over €0.5 billion (R9.7 billion),” Giles Redpath, Hive Energy’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Still, critics are sceptical about whether production costs can fall sufficiently for green hydrogen to viably compete with conventional, carbon-intensive fuels like diesel.
The plan is to install an 850-megawatt electrolyser using Topsoe’s Solid Oxide Electrolyser Cell technology. Hive expects to produce green ammonia at a sales price at its export port of $650 a tonne. It has previously said the plant is intended to serve export markets such as Japan and South Korea.
Hive said it’s seeking additional investors and lenders for the project.
