PNE And S.E.T. Select Energy Cooperate: E-fuels From Green Hydrogen For South Africa

Cuxhaven, Germany - The PNE Group and S.E.T. Select Energy GmbH (SET) are planning to jointly produce and market synthetic fuels from renewable energies (e-fuels) in South Africa. The two companies signed a letter of intent to this effect in Hamburg today.

The project on the west coast of South Africa is expected to produce up to 500,000 tons of e-fuels per year, PNE announced. This fuel comes from green hydrogen produced via electrolysis. The electrolyzer to produce the hydrogen, with a rated capacity of 1 GW, will be powered by energy from wind farms and photovoltaic systems.

Commenting on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Markus Lesser, CEO of PNE, said: "We are looking forward to working with SET on this groundbreaking project. It shows once again that climate protection must be considered and managed globally. In addition, it is the second power-to-X project for us in South Africa and a further milestone in the implementation of our corporate strategy."

As the project site does not have a large grid capacity, the decision was made to produce e-fuels from wind and solar energy and not to supply the electrolyzer via the national power grid.

The water required for electrolysis is not obtained from scarce drinking water reservoirs, but comes from the sea and passes through a desalination plant before being used.

Source: IWR Online, 27 Jul 2023