Prieska Power has struck a partnership with South Africa’s Industrial Development Corp. (IDC) to develop a green hydrogen project in Prieska Northern Cape.
Prieska said the presence of IDC will help reach financial close on the project in the first half of 2023. Initial production will be 72,000 tonnes per year of green ammonia, with 12,900 tpy of green hydrogen, in 2025.
By 2030, the aim is to surpass 500,000 tpy.
“We are thrilled to partner with the IDC”, said Prieska director Meta Mhlarhi. “The dynamic combination of experience and talent has the potential to contribute not just to South Africa’s energy security through innovative sources such as Hydrogen, but also the economic recovery and growth of our country.”
The company said the location would allow it to deliver “competitively priced” green hydrogen and ammonia to the world. It aims to use the Haber Bosch process to produce green ammonia.
The Northern Cape’s Green Hydrogen strategy has named Prieska as strategic. The company’s Makole Mupita said the plan would “catalyse a collaborative approach between business, the province and national government in achieving the country’s hydrogen goal and position the Northern Cape as a hydrogen hub”.
The company’s directors are currently seeking technical and financial partnerships in Europe.
Mahlako a Phahla Investments and the Central Energy Corp. (CENEC) are backing the Prieska project. The two joined up in 2020 to work on the green hydrogen plan.
Mupita and her sister, Mlarhi, are directors of the Prieska project and founders of Mahlako a Phahla.
The first phase of the project will involve 80 MWp of solar and 240 MWp of onshore wind. The company will begin work on the second phase in 2027, it hopes, with more than 260 MWp of solar and 1,500 MWp of wind.
Germany’s Thyssenkrup is the technology partner for the project.
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