- Omnia and WKN Windcurrent S.A (Pty) Ltd (WKN)., a fully owned subsidiary of German based PNE AG, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to evaluate the onsite production of green hydrogen and ammonia in South Africa.
- Omnia is a JSE listed company manufactures and supplies chemicals and specialised services and solutions for the agriculture, mining and chemicals application industries.
This new ammonia production will be powered by renewable energy from hybrid sources. The PNE subsidiary is to develop the necessary equipment to combine energy generation from wind and solar with the production of the ammonia. The objective is to produce competitively priced green ammonia in the range of up to 100,000 tonnes per annum, which would result in a saving of 180,000 tonnes per annum of CO2 emissions.
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A positive result of this collaboration would make South Africa less dependent on imports and constrained rail logistics as well as help achieve local industries’ decarbonisation targets by replacing CO2 intensive, conventionally produced ammonia.
The deepening of the green hydrogen value chain within South Africa will support the implementation of the South African government’s strategy to develop a green hydrogen economy by harnessing South Africa’s abundant natural resources of sun and wind to generate renewable energy.
The government’s “Just Energy Transition Programme” with Germany and other countries has mobilised around $8.5 billion (USD) to accelerate the country’s transition to enhanced renewable energy sources. “South Africa is a fast-growing market. With projects like this, we are helping to achieve decarbonization targets,” adds Markus Lesser. “In addition, we remain true to our principle of only implementing economically successful commercial projects.”
The recent signing of this MoU will enable both parties to start the joint evaluation and planning of the green hydrogen and green ammonia plants. Ammonia is used as an important input for fertilisers and explosives manufacturing.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
