The UNCTAD project on Technology Assessment in the Energy and Agricultural Sectors in Africa to Accelerate Progress on Science, Technology and Innovation, which involves South Africa, Seychelles and Zambia as pilot countries, was initiated in South Africa in 2019 following the submission of an expression of interest by the country.
In recent years, there has been a surge of policies, programmes and strategies relating to green hydrogen technologies, and some political attention to developing and commercializing it in South Africa.
The various policy and programmatic initiatives on hydrogen are aimed at reducing the country’s high dependence on coal, thereby spurring the transition to a low (net-zero) carbon economy, diversifying the sources of energy production to meet growing demand; address energy scarcity; and building national capabilities for exporting hydrogen to international markets.
The country is richly endowed with input materials, such as platinum and iridium resources, which is a huge advantage for developing a sustainable hydrogen value chain. There is also increasing international demand and investment in hydrogen as an energy source.
To give practical expression to the various policy goals on the green hydrogen economy, South Africa is investing in the development of electrolyser technologies: a system or device that uses electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, thereby producing hydrogen gas as a sustainable carrier of clean energy.
This report is structured as follows:
Section 1 provides an overview of South Africa’s development context and the energy outlook. It discusses challenges and opportunities relating to the country’s energy security, as well as various national efforts aimed at transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
One of the key findings discussed in this section is that South Africa has a wide range of technological options to overcome the challenges to its lack of energy security and meet its obligations to transition to a net-zero carbon economy.
The country holds 70 per cent of global platinum deposits and over 85 per cent of global iridium deposits, which are critical for green hydrogen production.
Section 2 provides an overview of different policy frameworks and instruments, as well as programmatic initiatives that the Government has adopted or launched to harness different energy technology options. It identifies an array of policy instruments and programmes for green hydrogen in the country.
There is also a growing body of academic and non-academic studies on the socioeconomic and technical aspects of building a green hydrogen economy in South Africa. Overall, green hydrogen is receiving increasing policy and research attention in the country.
Section 3 discusses electrolyser technology for harnessing green hydrogen.
It focuses on the socioeconomic impacts of the technology, the different actors involved in electrolyser R&I, and how and whether the national system of innovation (NSI) as a whole creates or unlocks systemic barriers to electrolyser development and commercialization in South Africa.
Section 4 outlines the methodology, and describes the processes, instruments and activities undertaken in conducting the TA. Further, it presents a SWOT analysis, and analyses the empirical information gathered for the TA.
Emphasis is placed on the design and administration of a survey questionnaire, interviews and a focus group discussion, which were the main methods for gathering and analysing both qualitative and quantitative information for the TA.
It focuses on key aspects, such as stakeholders’ understanding or knowledge of green hydrogen and electrolyser technologies, actors and trends in electrolyser R&I, stakeholders’ perceptions of the effectiveness of current national policies and programmes for electrolysers for green hydrogen production, perceptions concerning the benefits and risks of using the technology, and proposals for maximizing benefits and reducing risks associated with the development and commercialization of electrolysers for green hydrogen production.
Specific limitations of the methodology and some of the institutional challenges to the TA process are also discussed.
Sections 5 and 6 outline tentative policy recommendations and an action plan for using the TA to inform decisions on the development and application of electrolysers for green hydrogen production in South Africa, respectively.
They also discuss measures that the Government and UNCTAD as well as other stakeholders should undertake to build capacity to institutionalize TA as a toolbox for technology policymaking.
