Northern Cape, gets investment boost from IDC partnership

Prieska Power Reserve, an emerging company within the green hydrogen arena, this week announced a partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation

PRIESKA Power Reserve, an emerging company within the green hydrogen arena, on Tuesday announced a partnership with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC, which will invest in its green hydrogen project in Prieska Northern Cape, South Africa.

The Prieska Power Reserve is a catalytic project that will begin producing green hydrogen and ammonia using a combination of high-yielding renewable solar and wind energy resources, as well as other natural resources of water and air.

The initiative is ideally positioned to become a major participant in the worldwide green hydrogen and ammonia markets.

Cobus Vermeulen, a Prieska Power Reserve director, said: ‘’With this agreement, we look forward to creating jobs, establishing and growing new enterprises, particularly for women and youth, to fulfil the increasing demand for this new industry.”

The IDC’S approval of a facility would ensure that the project reached financial close in the first half of 2023, in a journey that began in 2018, it said in a statement.

The first phase would result in the production of 72 000 tonnes of green ammonia per year with a green hydrogen content of 12 900 tonnes beginning in 2025, escalating to more than 500,000 by 2030.

Martin Walzer, a director of Prieska Power Reserve, said, “Some of the completed milestones include the chemical plant, the wind, solar and microgrid feasibility studies, which indicate a huge potential for the project. The project is currently also in the process of finalising technical design work.”

“It is through partnerships such as the one with IDC that we are able to further progress our work,” said Walzer.

The location and access to infrastructure allow for the delivery of competitively priced green hydrogen and ammonia to the global market.

Of note, Prieska Power Reserve has been identified as Strategic in the Northern Cape’s Green Hydrogen strategy and has undergone the process of achieving classification as a National Strategic Infrastructure Project (SIPS), which is currently awaiting gazetting.

Director of Prieska Power Reserve, Makole Mupita said, “Prieska Power Reserve will 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 project would drastically reduce carbon emissions, with hydrogen identified as a clean energy source that could help the world to achieve net-zero emissions in the coming decades.

The project is being developed by Mahlako A Phahla Investments, a player in the South African energy space , and the Central Energy Corporation, a zero-emission energy company.