Hive Hydrogen South Africa has signed an agreement with a South African renewable energy developer Genesis Eco-Energy to implement 372 MW of wind power in the Western Cape to support the development of its green hydrogen and ammonia project at Coega in the Eastern Cape.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa is co-founded by UK-headquartered Hive Energy and a local renewable energy developer BuiltAfrica, with Hive Energy holding a 75% stake.

Hive Hydrogen’s $5.8bn (ZAR111.4bn) green ammonia hub is a flagship investment project in South Africa, Hive Energy said in a press statement on February 27. The project, which has been tabled at the Presidential Investment Summit in Johannesburg, was awarded a Strategic Integrated Project status by the Ministry of Public Works in November 2022.

According to the statement, a total of 3,480 MW will be generated to supply the plant and will bring much-needed investment to the transmission network. The project development will also enable other independent power producers (IPPs) in the region to connect their generation assets to the grid, which will help to reduce frequent power cuts also known as load shedding.

“The Hive Green Ammonia project will incorporate our large-scale wind farms to deliver significant benefits to the Eastern Cape province, creating large numbers of jobs in a struggling economy. We are thrilled to be part of delivering this energy solution,” said Davin Chown, Genesis MD.

Genesis Eco-Energy was founded in 2001 and is part of the Cape Town-headquartered Genesis Infrastructure and Renewable Energy Group. Genesis is developing 6,5 GW of renewable energy generation and energy storage projects in key strategic locations in South Africa.

Genesis successfully developed and secured 650 MW of projects in the government’s renewable energy programme and is implementing a number of small-scale projects such as the Darling 6-MW solar project as part of its embedded generation portfolio.

“We have been working with Genesis on these two outstanding projects of theirs for over a year and are delighted to have finalised implementation terms with them to ensure a meaningful supply of power is secured for the project,” said Colin Loubser, CEO of Hive Energy Africa. “We will continue working with Genesis to secure additional power for the Coega Green Ammonia project which, once the first phase is built, will require three further phases to supply power.”

BuiltAfrica is a renewable energy development company based in South Africa. It was founded in 2009 by former Eskom CEO and former Standard Bank chairperson Thulani Gcabashe who is the current chairperson of Hive Hydrogen South Africa.

BuiltAfrica successfully participated in the early rounds of renewable energy procurement under the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). During this period two solar generation plants were built and are in operation.