South Africa’s first green ammonia project set for launch

South Africa’s first green ammonia project is set to be formally launched. Hive Hydrogen and BuiltAfrica together as Hive Hydrogen South Africa as well as Linde plc, through its wholly owned South African subsidiary Afrox, have teamed up to establish the project.

Former Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe, as chairperson of Hive Hydrogen South Africa and executive chairperson of BuiltAfrica said the launch follows secured in-principle offtake agreement from a global player and also a clear indication of the world’s ‘go green’ momentum.

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Scope of work

The project which will be launched this month involves construction of a green ammonia export plant in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape. It will have a combined 3 200 MW of renewable sun and wind energy which will electrolyse 3.4 megalitres of seawater a day as part of a desalination and hydrogen extraction process. Proton exchange membrane, or PEM, electrolysers generally make use of South Africa’s platinum and iridium platinum group metals.

The project will be working closely with salt-making company Cerebos, which has an adjoining desalination plant. Nitrogen will be simultaneously extracted from the air utilising an air separation unit. The hydrogen and nitrogen will then be combined through ammonia synthesis to produce green ammonia, which will then be cooled, liquified and stored for export.

The first phase is expected to go live in 2025, with full operation by the end of 2026. Planned is the export of 780 000 t/y of green ammonia a year from the Coega Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) in ships that will likely be driven by green ammonia themselves at that stage, given the fast pace of change. The project is also is expected to generate 10 000 direct and indirect jobs.