UCT's HySA/Catalysis Competence Centre in the Department of Chemical Engineering recently hosted a top-level government delegation from Limpopo, headed by the Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) MEC, Pinky Kekana.

UCT is co-host, together with Mintek, of the HySA/Catalysis Competence Centre, the national competence centre in catalysis and catalytic devices for the hydrogen and fuel cells industry.

LEDET has identified HySA/Catalysis as its partner to develop a value proposition to the Department of Trade and Industry. This will support the construction of the Platinum Group Metal Beneficiation Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for the exploration of the hydrogen and fuel cells industry as a special focus for the development of the economic zone.

Kekana and her team met with HySA/Catalysis director Dr Olaf Conrad and Dr Sharon Blair, Key Programme Manager: Portable Power Systems.

The HySA/Catalysis Centre presented its current strategy for the development of value-added manufacturing capability in the hydrogen and fuel cells industry in South Africa.

"The ensuing discussion showed that this strategy was viewed as attractive, to integrate with Limpopo's development of the PGM beneficiation SEZ," said Conrad.

During February HySA/Catalysis and LEDET will jointly develop the value proposition, which will be presented to national government in March. Blair and Samuel Mafadza, LEDA's group chief executive officer, will take the lead for their respective organisations.

Conrad said that the meeting between the Centre and the Limpopo delegation would "enable a commercialisation pathway for technologies developed in our laboratories at UCT and Mintek as part of the HySA programme".