The launch of the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance (AGHA) by Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Egypt, Morocco, and Mauritania came on the same day that the European Union published its ‘REPowerEU Plan’ to accelerate renewable energy deployment and end its reliance on Russian oil and gas.
The simultaneous arrival of the two initiatives shows that Africa may play a role in Europe's drive for greater energy independence and a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions.
The European plan includes strategies to develop a clean (green) hydrogen network and by 2030 it aims to produce 10 million tons (MT) per year domestically and import 10 MT.
Africa could be a key supplier, especially northern countries.
“North Africa is ideally placed to help serve the growing European demand, leveraging on existing bilateral energy relations, exceptional solar irradiation conditions, existing export infrastructures (including port terminals), and new pipeline connection projects for the 2030s," consultants Deloitte said in their 2023 Global Green Hydrogen Outlook report.
North Africa will have "12 MT of pipeline capacity availability from 2035,” the report said.
Falling costs and wide availability of renewable energy means many developing economies, such as those in the African continent, could produce clean hydrogen at one-quarter the cost of European production, according to the consultant.
By 2050, four regions worldwide will account for almost half of global hydrogen production and 90% of trade, Deloitte predicts, predicting North Africa’s export potential at 44 MT of hydrogen, or derivative equivalent, followed by North America (24MT), Australia (16MT) and the Middle East (13MT)
Sub-Saharan Africa and South America make up the other 10% of traded volumes, the analysis said. Export revenues from the African continent could top $110 billion by 2050 as it captures almost 40% of trade revenues, more than 10 times its share in total market size.
Africa’s massive stretches of unclaimed, sunbaked land make it ideal for setting up large scale renewable projects, with more than 80% of territory in Algeria, Morocco, and South Africa available for development compared to less than 10% in Japan and South Korea, Deloitte says.
Africa is one of the world’s largest and least populated continents, making large-scale renewable energy deployment more feasible than in more densely populated regions.
Relatively low industrial development means Africa’s move toward emission-free energy generation leapfrogs some of the larger environmental missteps made by more economically developed nations. In much the same way, African telecommunications jumped land lines and went straight to mobile networks.
“For many African countries, the question is not how to reduce their carbon footprint, because the continent’s overall contribution to global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions is already low at less than 4 per cent,” United Nations’ Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) cluster lead for Energy and Climate Bitsat Yohannes wrote in a post in the UN’s ‘Africa Renewal’ magazine.
“Instead, we must examine how the continent can sustainably harness its existing resources to meet the growing demand for energy needed for economic development and to lift citizens out of poverty, while following a sustainable path to a net-zero future.” — Reuters
Paul Day. Based in Toronto, Canada, Paul writes about nuclear power and hydrogen.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
