JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s world-leading platinum group metals (PGM) endowment received a major boost when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen referred specifically to clean energy and green hydrogen forming the main part of this week’s R94-billion (€4.7-billion) new investments package at the EU-South Africa Summit in Cape Town.

Amid annual trade between South Africa and the EU being close to €50-billion, with 98% of South African exports to the EU being duty- and quota-free, Von der Leyen said the beneficiation of South Africa’s metals and minerals would result in the creation of quality South African jobs.

The Clean Trade and Investment Partnership would, she said, support South Africa’s in adding more value to local production in South Africa, for instance in the clean hydrogen value chain.

“You have clean energy in abundance, from wind to sun. You have raw materials that are critical for electrolysers, including 91% of the world’s PGM reserves, and you have a rising industry to produce clean hydrogen and strong export ambitions.”

Von der Leyen added that European companies interested in investing in South Africa needed the incentives that the Clean Trade and Investment Partnership would provide to stimulate investments in clean energy, raw materials and green hydrogen.

Von der Leyen’s comments have been made against the background of South Africa’s PGMs having the catalytic qualities to first produce green hydrogen and then turn it into unblemished electricity with the only byproduct being water.

Crucially, an interlinking note from the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) that highlights the widespread examples of PGM usage across the hydrogen value chain, along with associated applications, fully endorses the far-reaching observations by Von der Leyen, who was accompanied by European Council President António Costa at the European Union-South Africa Summit hosted by South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town.

During the summit, the  EU and South Africa agreed to start talks as part of a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership, with South Africa being the world’s first country to sign such a partnership that focuses on the clean energy transition, skills, technology, as well as on developing strategic industries along the entire supply chain – thus creating good jobs in South Africa and Africa.

Mining Weekly can report that the bulk of the €4.7-billion Global Gateway investment package – €4.4-billion, in fact – will be invested in projects supporting South Africa’s crucial Just Energy Transition and represents a significant pledge in the context of the Scaling up Renewables in Africa campaign, launched by Von der Leyen and Ramaphosa on the margins of the G20 Summit in Rio last year.

Partnering with international advocacy organisation Global Citizen and being backed by the International Energy Agency, Global Gateway will culminate with a major pledging event at the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November.

The Global Gateway package also focuses on connectivity infrastructure – both physical and digital– and on uplifting the local pharmaceutical industry. The Global Gateway Initiative is a strategy by the EU to invest in infrastructure projects worldwide.

HYDROGEN VALUE CHAIN AND PLATINUM GROUP METALS

Owing to its versatility as a fuel, chemical feedstock and energy carrier, the WPIC points out that hydrogen – the planet’s most abundant element – is essential for the energy transition, especially when produced as green hydrogen from renewable-energy sources.

This is because PGMs are critical for enabling the use of green hydrogen to achieve decarbonisation goals.

PGMs are used across the hydrogen value chain in a variety of applications, as can be seen on the attached infographics.

Frequently, the focus is on the use of PGM catalysts in proton exchange membrane technology in upstream electrolysers to produce hydrogen by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen, and downstream hydrogen fuel cell applications to generate power.

Of this demand, fuel cells used in both mobility on land, sea and air transport and stationary applications comprise the largest segment of projected hydrogen-related platinum demand, which is forecast to reach over 600 000 oz by 2030.

However, midstream applications that require PGMs also have an important role in enabling market development and the establishment of a global trade in green hydrogen. 

Midstream uses of PGMs in the hydrogen value chain include purifying hydrogen from electrolysers, ammonia cracking and loading hydrogen into a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) for transportation purposes and storage. Increasingly PGMs are being used to create e-fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel.

Interestingly, South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Anglo American Platinum and South Africa-linked independent venture capital firm AP Ventures are helping to fund the commercialisation of LOHC by German company Hydrogenious.

Owing to its diesel-like nature, LOHC can be transported and distributed in the existing infrastructure for oil-based fuels.

AP Ventures is backed by South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mirai Creation Fund and Plastic Omnium, and the ventures in which it invests make use of PGMs.

WPIC points out that as the hydrogen economy evolves, it will necessitate the transportation of hydrogen nationally and globally to connect production facilities with emerging end demand.

While hydrogen has a higher energy per kilogram mass than conventional liquid fuels such as petrol, it has a lower volumetric energy density, making it very light and therefore difficult to transport over long distances.

However, hydrogen can be transported as a derivative product such as ammonia or by using LOHC. With higher energy densities per unit of volume, these methods enhance transport efficiency.

Hydrogen that is transported and chemically stored in the form of ammonia is released in a chemical reaction called ammonia cracking. The cracking of ammonia to hydrogen and nitrogen requires a high temperature and high-pressure environment. To lower the temperature and pressure to optimise the energy requirement, a PGM-based catalyst is often used, typically ruthenium.

LOHCs absorb and release hydrogen through chemical reactions. When hydrogen is absorbed into the liquid organic carrier, PGM-based hydrogenation catalysts are used, including platinum. LOHCs can then be stored and transported using existing fuel distribution infrastructure and at ambient temperature and pressure. Platinum is also used as a catalyst in the dehydrogenation process that releases hydrogen from the LOHC.

Also called synthetic fuels, e-fuels are low-carbon or carbon-neutral fuels produced by combining sustainable carbon dioxide with hydrogen produced by electrolysis in the presence of a PGM catalyst.

With minor modifications, e-fuels can be used as a direct replacement for fossil fuels in internal combustion engines.

Von der Leyen noted that, with Africa's clean energy journey picking up speed, she would be happy to co-host the campaign Scaling up Renewables in Africa, with Ramaphosa.

“Together, we’ll help bring clean, affordable power to Africa," she said.