The changing energy production landscape is increasingly being driven by the private sector. As such, together with industry experts, Malan addressed the attendees in the Main Stage conference session, which delved into the influence of renewables and independent power producers (IPPs) on the power and energy markets.
Discussions during this session focused on the new landscape facing IPPs, from regulation to contract negotiations, and will touch on challenges such as renegotiating PPAs during a time of financial uncertainty.
Briefly explain your experience and what you will be speaking about at ENLIT Africa 2023.
I am the Managing Partner and CEO of Frost & Sullivan’s sub-Saharan African operation. For the past 23 years, I have dedicated myself to understanding the African region and its dynamics. Utilising this understanding, I support private and public sector institutions to identify opportunities for growth and development, and then develop practical strategies and approaches to take advantage of these.
This includes investment work – evaluating the viability of projects and opportunities across the region; and developmental work – sector development strategies and investments supporting the broader evolution of industries like energy and power.
At Enlit 2023, I will be presenting on ‘Tracking Project Development in Africa’ as well as moderating some of the deep dive discussions into specific projects.
In your expert opinion, what are the challenges and roadblocks hindering the utilisation of hydrogen across multiple sectors?
The production of green hydrogen (the preferred type of hydrogen as it’s the only 100% carbon-free type) via electrolysis is still a prohibitive process to adopt at a mass scale. More R&D and scale will be required to lower the cost of production.
Another challenge is the storage of hydrogen, which needs to be compressed to a liquid state and stored and transported at low temperatures to guarantee its effectiveness and efficiency as an energy source. Its effectiveness in other industries outside the energy sector (e.g., manufacturing, chemicals, transportation, etc.) is still in the earl y phases.
To that end, it is the most promising, large-scale (utility-level) energy storage technology we have at this stage. African governments should provide as much support as possible to localise R&D efforts, given the massive potential of green hydrogen for the region.
What future hydrogen projects and/or developments are you looking forward to and why?
Several projects are in the pipeline across the continent, led by the African Green Hydrogen Alliance comprising Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa. Most of these projects are small-scale, aimed at producing green hydrogen for domestic markets (e.g., fertiliser production and use in transportation). Larger projects, such as the Hyphen project in Namibia, are still in the feasibility stages to assess the viability of the proposed project. These larger projects primarily aim to export hydrogen to developed markets such as Europe, Asia, and North America.
The sheer level of opportunity makes everyone very excited about this opportunity (and so it should). Given Africa’s Renewable Energy (RE) potential, the continent’s ability to produce green hydrogen in large quantities to enable developed countries to offset carbon-intensive economies is astronomical. There is still a lot of R&D left to make this a reality, but this is well worth the bet, in my opinion.
Who are you most interested in hearing from on the programme and why?
It would be interesting to attend the session on the progress of the Namibia Hyphen Hydrogen energy project, arguably Africa’s biggest green hydrogen project f or the foreseeable future.
It would be interesting to hear about the green hydrogen in South Africa to see where South Africa is currently positioned in the African hydrogen value chain and what roles we can expect fuel companies to take within the said value chain. Sasol’s potential collaboration with players such as Arcelor Mittal in the Western Cape to produce green steel could be game-chang ing for Africa’s refining future.
In your own opinion, why is it important for energy stakeholders to attend this conference?
Energy is one of the ‘pillar’ infrastructure investments for any economy to thrive (along with water, logistics, healthcare, and ICT). Although I don’t think we can completely ‘leapfrog’ into RE technologies to drive the continent’s industrialization process, these industries can be developed in conjunction with the intention/vision to move over to RE sources in the long term. Technologies such as low-carbon hydrogen, solar-powered mini-grids, and other alternative fuels are very promising to help electrify the region and overcome Africa’s chronic energ y deficit in the long term. But in the short term, our grids still need balancing with some form of baseload power – probably liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the case of Africa.
This process is challenging for many reasons and requires industry stakeholders to discuss and debate the opportunities and challenges regularly. We still have a massive disconnect between public and private sector agendas and requirements.
The industry will not attract the required investment unless some of the challenges are resolved. Regarded conferences such as Enlit provide a platform for all industry stakeholders to come together and lay the foundation to help Africa grow through collaboration, innovation, and sharing of information.
About Hendrik Malan
Hendrik Malan also serves on the Enlit Africa 2023 advisory board. This board consists of 23 members which provide strategic advice to the conference producers and the energy portfolio, on key focus areas of the energy industry. Malan is a true Africa expert, working with key private and public sector organisations to grow and expand into the region. He has more than 20 years of experience in the region and is truly passionate about Africa and its people; as well as the amazing opportunities the region has to offer. ESI
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