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AEI Indaba set to take place in March

4th February 2022

     

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The Africa Energy Indaba (AEI) conference, now in its fourteenth year, combines the hybrid model of virtual discussion and debate from March 1 to 3 with an on-site in-person exhibition from March 1 to 2 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CITCC) in Cape Town.

In line with the theme of this year’s conference, The Business of Energy-Africa Beckons, the annual AEI con­ference continues with its com­mitment to energy sustainability through dis­cussion and robust debate to find solutions to accelerate adequate energy generation across Africa.

Without exception, the prestigious annual AEI conference includes a diverse group of influential, energy-oriented personalities and high-profile speakers. 

The AEI luminaries will share their real-world insights about the changing African energy landscape and explore what is needed to meet the rapidly growing need for energy access in Africa. 

A primary focus of the event is that it allows for business opportunities to be raised and deal flow to be accessed throughout the event. AEI 2022 will inform about the African market and future business opportunities in the energy space, regional integration, and the importance of African Power Pools. 

The event will, further, provide the oppor­tunity to learn about disruptive business models, the need for innovative financing solu­tions, and the impact of Industry 4.0 on the energy sector.

Moreover, more about evolving grid tech­nologies, renewable and cleaner energy, energy storage, and energy efficiency will be heard. 

This includes solar panels, wind turbines, and lithium-ion batteries, which are helping to steer the world toward a cleaner energy future.

However, much more needs to be achieved to speed up the pace of change and avoid a climate disaster. 

A highly efficient green fuel, capable of powering heavy-duty transportation and industry with high energy and high heat demands, is required to enable the change.

Green hydrogen is likely to be adopted first by industrial feedstock, transportation and storage. 

This is because the use of renewable energy increases the requirement for long-duration storage, which is crucial to cut emissions.

This is owing to that fact that wind and solar generation are seasonal and intermittent and extra power must be captured and stored in a way that allows for use when demand rises.

That chasm can be filled with green hydro­gen. Green hydrogen is a new but reliable technology for reducing carbon emissions in areas where electrification is ineffective. 

The growth of green energy is predicted to be among the fastest of any aspect of the energy revolution, generating specialised opportunities for businesses and investors.

Neither gas produced from coal or lignite (brown) nor gas produced through steam methane reformation (gray) is carbon-friendly, and governments and businesses are sourcing and requiring cleaner alternatives.

One option has been ‘blue hydrogen’, where­by gas is produced through steam methane reformation; emissions are reduced through carbon capture and storage. However, only half the carbon is created, not zero emissions.

Green hydrogen is a hydrogen-based fuel that electrolyzes water with electricity gener­ated from low-carbon sources. 

Using this renewable energy source could almost elimi­nate emissions.

Day two of the AEI conference will see attendees given the unique opportunity to listen in on panel discussion six, entitled ‘Green Hydrogen: Better than Hot Air?’ This will highlight if hydrogen could become a game-changer within the energy space, and what it will take to become a viable alternative, considering Africa’s unique characteristics?

About 96% of hydrogen is produced through methods involving the consumption of fossil fuels.

However, could the production of green hydrogen, which is almost entirely independent of fossil energy sources, become a real possibility? 

If concerns about climate change drive the energy transition, green hydrogen will likely be the solution of choice across several high-emission sectors.

Setting up a hydrogen economy, like the fossil fuel industry 150 years ago, requires starting from scratch and will not happen without a strategy. 

The global trend is to create ‘hydro­gen valleys’ in order to catalyze development.

These are geographical locations – a city, a region, an island, or an industrial cluster – where multiple hydrogen applications are merged into a single ecosystem that consumes a considerable amount of hydrogen, hence increasing scale and improving project economics.

With this in mind, the South African National Energy Development Institute, the Department of Science and Innovation, mining company Anglo American, clean energy solutions company Bambili Energy, and green energy supplier Engie collaborated on a study to find ways to transform South Africa's Bushveld Complex, as well as a larger region between Johannesburg and Durban, into a hydrogen-producing region.

Moreover, the Namibian government announced at COP26 that project development company HYPHEN Hydrogen Energy has been selected as the preferred bidder for a $9.4-billion green hydrogen project to be created in the coastal town of Luderitz in southern Namibia.

South Africa is also seeking to speed up its own green hydrogen initiatives at Boegoebaai in the Northern Cape, a proposed new special economic zone over the Namibian border. However, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Boegoebaai could bring South Africa and Namibia closer together as the two Southern African countries compete for a slice of the green-hydrogen export market.

Edited by Zandile Mavuso
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

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