South Africa to Deploy Hydrogen-based Storage Power Plants

South Africa will see land leased by HDF Energy representing six different locations where 1500MW of photovoltaic plants will be deployed with more than 3500 MWh of hydrogen-based long-term storage. Hydrogen Industry Leaders looks at how South Africa is contributing to the hydrogen economy.

HDF Energy has explained that it will serve more than 1.4 million inhabitants all day and all night, all year round. These projects represent an investment of USD 3 billion.

Eskom issued a request for proposal in April 2022, which was followed by a meticulous selection process. The selected bidders will lease a total of 6184 hectares of land for a period of between 25 and 30 years each. The HDF’s Renewstable architecture will provide stable and dispatchable power, thus adding stability to the grid.

Nicolas Lecomte, HDF’s Director for Southern Africa, said: “This is a very exciting result, and the team is more than ready to hit the ground running.

“While addressing immediate challenges related to the lack of baseload and dispatchable electricity, HDF Energy projects in South Africa will kick start the large-scale industrial deployment of the hydrogen economy in the country and create jobs in Mpumalanga for the workers of the coal industry in transition.”