South Africa’s $5.8 billion Hive project aims to lead low-cost ammonia output

By Wendell Roelf

A $5.8 billion project on South Africa’s east coast seeks to use the country’s infrastructure and cheap renewable power to make some of the world’s cheapest green ammonia for clients in Europe and Asia, an executive said.

South Africa is vying with other African nations, including Egypt, Morocco and Namibia, to meet rising demand in the European Union and Asia for hydrogen and ammonia described as green because they are produced from renewable energy.

Ammonia is used in making fertiliser and by the chemical industry and it is also the means to deliver hydrogen, which is sought after to reduce carbon emissions but is very difficult to ship or pipe.

The project at the port of Coega, jointly developed by Britain’s Hive Energy and South African partner BuiltAfrica, is expected to ship around one million metric tons a year of green ammonia to clients by late 2029, Hive Energy’s Africa CEO Colin Loubser