JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Hydrogen mobility and platinum group metals (PGMs) have been highlighted at North-West University (NWU) by the handing over of the mobile hydrogen refuelling and hydrogen generation system to Toyota South Africa Motors and the opening of the rapid prototype training and testing facility.

Strongly reflected is the collaboration between PGM producer African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, NWU, South African National Energy Development Institute, Toyota and Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) in advancing hydrogen innovation through electrolysis technology development as part of South Africa’s clean energy transition.

The on-site hydrogen generation is through proton electrode membrane electrolysis, which is catalysed with the help of PGMs.

From a critical metals perspective, South Africa is the host of the overwhelmingly largest global volumes of PGMs, which serve as catalysts in electrolysers that separate water into hydrogen and oxygen and then play a second catalytic role by converting the hydrogen back into electricity that provides emission-free mobility.

The handing over of the mobile hydrogen refuelling station and the official opening of the rapid prototype training and testing facility at NWU’s Potchefstroom Campus underscores South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP), hydrogen economy development, and net-zero carbon ambitions.

They form part of the broader energy research, development and innovation flagship programmes of the department, which includes HySA.

The mobile hydrogen refuelling station was completed through a partnership between the HySA Infrastructure Centre of Competence and Toyota South Africa Motors. 

The facility serves as a strategic platform to demonstrate hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle technologies and showcases locally developed intellectual property. It further strengthens collaboration between public and private sector partners and contributes to building an integrated hydrogen value chain in the country.

The rapid prototyping, training and testing facility also located at the same campus is a partnership between the department, the university and PGM-mining company ARM.  

The facility forms part of HySA Infrastructure’s strategic research and innovation platform and is designed to accelerate the incubation, development, and demonstration of water electrolysis technologies. Its focus includes advancing green hydrogen production, component innovation, system integration, and the scaling of technologies from laboratory to pilot and industrial applications.

These  initiatives are advancing hydrogen mobility in South Africa and support the decarbonisation of the transport sector, in line with the Hydrogen Society Roadmap. 

The HySA national flagship programme was established to develop hydrogen technologies across the value chain of South Africa’s mineral resources, particularly PGMs, which are critical catalysts for low-carbon hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

HySA Infrastructure Competence Centre is directed by Professor Dmitri Bessarabov, who makes the point on LinkedIn that while South Africa hosts more than 80% of global PGM reserves, local deployment of these low-carbon technologies remains limited.

The launch of the rapid prototyping, testing and training facility marks a major step forward and is viewed by Bessarabov as signalling “real progress toward commercialisation of hydrogen technologies in South Africa”.

Hydrogen is being viewed increasingly as a "freedom tool" in the geopolitical landscape. In hydrogen valleys, the strategy has shifted towards integrated clusters where production, storage, and heavy industrial use happen in the same 50 km radius, minimising infrastructure risk, EU energy geopoliticist Attila Menyhart reports.

Last month, South Africa spelled out its green hydrogen pursuits at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation conference attended by 70 countries in Vienna, where South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation JET-IP programme director: green hydrogen Rebecca Maserumule outlined the steps South Africa is taking to initiate first-mover green hydrogen project development.

In February, speaking at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa positioned green hydrogen at the centre of Africa’s big energy opportunity in discussion with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, where the extent to which Africa’s superior sunshine, strong wind corridors, powerful river systems, and critical minerals place the continent in a distinctive position to lead the world in green hydrogen production was emphasised.

In Uganda, LinkedIn reports that Italian electrolyser manufacturer ErreDue has secured a €900 000 green hydrogen contract to supply a steel plant in Uganda, in a deal that marks an early green hydrogen application in the East African industrial sector. This contract is described as being reflective of the growing push to deploy green hydrogen in hard-to-abate industrial sectors across emerging markets in Africa.

It is interesting to point out that Isuzu and Toyota have agreed to collaborate on the development toward the mass production of a next-generation light-duty fuel cell electric truck. This vehicle is based on Isuzu's battery electric vehicle light-duty truck and combines Toyota's new hydrogen fuel cell system. Both companies will jointly develop the system to ensure its compatibility, with first production targeted in 2027.

Meanwhile, in Germany, a major shift is underway with projects such as the European Hydrogen Backbone, aiming to convert existing natural gas pipelines into a network for hydrogen transport. Instead of building everything from scratch, this approach repurposes thousands of kilometres of infrastructure for a cleaner future.

In Austria, Lhyfe has signed a multi-year contract with BMW Group to supply green hydrogen to the German manufacturer’s site in Steyr, Austria. The facility is responsible for the series development and industrialisation of BMW’s hydrogen fuel cell system. Under the agreement, Lhyfe will begin delivering green hydrogen to the Steyr site using its hydrogen transport fleet.

In the US, Hyundai Motor Group signed a multi-year partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology to advance hydrogen mobility solutions. The initiative introduces Nexo fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure to support research, workforce development, and zero-emissions logistics…and the list of hydrogen fuel cell announcements could go on.