South African president Cyril Ramaphosa
South Africa’s hydrogen strategy moves up a gear
The platinum-rich country’s green hydrogen potential is attracting growing domestic and international attention
South Africa has launched a Hydrogen Society Roadmap (HSRM) that envisages green hydrogen production reaching at least 500,000t/yr by 2030, with electrolyser capacity hitting a minimum 15GW by a decade later. The plan was published on 17 February by Blade Nzimande, minister of higher education, science and innovation, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s acknowledgement of the sector’s importance to the country’s economic growth plans in his annual state of the nation address. Pretoria first expounded a strategy for the deployment of hydrogen 15 years ago in an early effort to decarbonise the mining sector. But in tandem with an upgrade to the country’s emissions-reduction goals, the past 1
Also in this section
25 February 2026
Low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia development is advancing much more slowly and unevenly than once expected, with high costs and policy uncertainty thinning investment. Meanwhile, surging energy demand is reinforcing the role of natural gas and LNG as the backbone of the global energy system, panellists at LNG2026 said
18 February 2026
Norwegian energy company has dropped a major hydrogen project and paused its CCS expansion plans as demand fails to materialise
4 February 2026
Europe’s largest electrolyser manufacturers are losing patience with policymakers as sluggish growth in the green hydrogen sector undermines their decision to expand production capacity
2 February 2026
As a fertiliser feedstock, it is indispensable, but ammonia’s potential as a carbon-free energy carrier is also making it central to global decarbonisation strategies
