South Africa – In the Land of Hydrogen Metals

Approximately one-fifth of the greenhouse gases emitted in Germany are caused by local industry. This is set to change starting in January of next year: with a multi-billion euro bonus package, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck intends to support the steel, chemical, and cement industries, as well as glass manufacturing, in transitioning to renewable energies and, above all, hydrogen.

The problem here is that many of the commodities needed for this turnaround come from autocratically governed China. Disruptions to supply chains cannot always be ruled out due to possible geopolitical tensions, which is why diversification of supplier countries is the order of the day.

One possible alternative is South Africa, a truly “hot” candidate for producing the electricity from alternative energies required for green hydrogen. Strong winds, plenty of sun, and large open spaces provide ideal conditions for generating electricity from wind and solar power.

To consolidate Germany’s hydrogen partnership with South Africa, Robert Habeck is visiting the country for several days. We are following his example in February next year, as South Africa is also the main producer of the platinum metals platinum, iridium, ruthenium and palladium, which are so important for hydrogen production. These commodities are used as anode and cathode materials in hydrogen electrolyzers and are part of Noble BC’s product range. A partnership with South Africa will expand our supply sources for these hydrogen metals, for which there is likely to be high demand in the near future.