Making fertiliser more sustainable
Some of the best agricultural land in the world is in Africa but it is not as productive as it could be. Some of this is political, but it is also because the land is simply under-fertilised. As a continent, Africa is shockingly under-fertilised, in comparison to other parts of the world. For instance, the fertiliser per hectare of cropland in Africa is five times less than the global average. And because the inherent demand for fertiliser is already there, fertiliser plants in those parts of Africa should be capable of being financed and built today.
These fertiliser plants can use green hydrogen as a feedstock – rather than as an energy vector; and they will be able to produce green hydrogen for hydrogen-powered vehicles and green ammonia for ammonia generators. In 2022, some 600-700 million people in Africa are still not connected to the electricity grid. Ammonia generators could help provide much needed power for lighting and cooking in people’s homes. With time and in the right locations, green ammonia can be used for shipping or maritime purposes. In addition, baseload renewable power plants, using hydrogen to balance the intermittency of renewable energy, will also make financial sense, in some regions.
Spotlight on Somaliland and Tanzania
All of the required technologies are well established as the green hydrogen revolution gets underway, with new technologies and further improvements increasing competitiveness. The development of a new market only really starts with the development of a profitable business. This itself attracts new businesses into the sector and provides the funds for them to grow and develop. This thought was behind AHP’s delegation to Somaliland and Tanzania: to see what hydrogen-related businesses could be established in these countries today.
The delegation consisted of AHP members, which either together or separately have the capability to build green fertiliser plants in Africa and other facilities to meet existing needs in Africa. These include baseload renewable energy and waste-to-energy hydrogen plants, as well as ammonia generators. Preliminary calculations and initial discussions were promising but there is no substitute for actually seeing and going to the countries concerned.
The wind and solar maps show that Somaliland had formidable onshore wind and solar but experiencing it in person was impressive. Somaliland is a potential future hydrogen superpower, located in an increasingly key location. Yet Somaliland is a country where, due to the cost of fossil fuels, electricity is very expensive. Given this, Somaliland is an ideal country for green hydrogen to be deployed now.
Somaliland has a population of around 5 million people and is the size of England and Wales. Its immediate neighbour is Ethiopia with large fertile regions and a population of more than 110 million people. Tanzania has a population of more than 60 million people and large fertile areas in most of its political districts.
Tanzania is blessed with hydropower, geothermal energy and the potential for harvesting wind and solar energy. In central and western Tanzania there is great potential for producing solar and onshore wind power – the least expensive renewable energy sources. Additionally, there are large open (arid) spaces in these regions which allow the construction of larger renewable energy facilities while minimising the impact on the environment. Tanzania is planning a major new Port at Bagamoyo, which has significant green hydrogen implications, as does the Port of Berbera in Somaliland.
The delegation made presentations and held discussions in Somaliland with the private sector, but in Tanzania most of our discussions were with senior officials (including the Minister of Foreign Affairs) and officials in Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo and Zanzibar. In both countries there was great interest in developing hydrogen and several opportunities were identified and will be followed up by the companies involved, supported as required by the AHP. And when one or more sectors are underway, it will be possible to turn to other sectors which will then become more connected and attractive to investors.
The East African Green Hydrogen and Fertiliser Corridor
East Africa has great potential for producing low-cost green hydrogen that will benefit its large population as well as its strong domestic and agricultural sectors. For these socio-economic reasons, the AHP is focusing on creating a Green Hydrogen and Fertiliser Corridor for East Africa:
The Hydrogen Ecosystems involved will include:
baseload renewable power supply using hydrogen
green fertiliser production
grid independent power supply
waste-to-(hydrogen) power
maritime shipping sector
mining, land transport, industry