Hive Hydrogen's $5.8bn South African Ammonia Project 'Going Really Well'

Hive Hydrogen's $5.8 billion green hydrogen-ammonia project at the Coega Special Economic Zone is progressing well, with the developer expected to make what it describes as significant announcements at next month's Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town. An electrolyzer and ammonia loop technology solution has already been selected for the project, which could begin construction as early as next year, targeting commissioning in December 2029.

What the Project Is Designed to Produce

Hive Hydrogen South Africa has been developing the project since September 2019, aiming for a renewable-energy-powered facility capable of producing one million tonnes of green ammonia annually. It is backed by Hive Energy and Built Africa, whose chairperson, former Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe, brings experience from renewable energy project development under South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. Coega is one of three green hydrogen schemes Hive is pursuing globally, alongside Albamed in Spain and Gente Grande in Chile.

The Renewable Power Behind the Ammonia

Environmental authorization has been granted for the 1,000 MW Carissa wind energy facility near Beaufort West, part of 3,300 MW of renewable energy assets Hive has been developing to power the Coega ammonia plant, developed in partnership with AMDA Developments and environmental assessment practitioner Blue Crane Environmental. Financing has also progressed: SA-H2, a blended finance private equity fund focused on Southern Africa's green hydrogen value chain, has signed a development funding agreement with Hive, drawing on commitments from the European Commission's Global Gateway initiative, Invest International, South Africa's Public Investment Corporation, Sanlam Life, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

Part of a Broader South African Hydrogen Push

Separately, Sasol has commissioned a platinum-based proton exchange membrane hydrogen electrolyzer system at its research campus in Sasolburg, developed with South Africa's Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, the South African National Energy Development Institute and North-West University, aimed at generating the technical knowledge needed to support wider green hydrogen commercialization domestically. China's Envision Energy is separately partnering with Sasol to study a potential green hydrogen system at the same Sasolburg site.

Reading This Against the Global Pipeline

Coega's progress sits within a wider run of green hydrogen and ammonia developments reported: Toyota's agreement to join fuel cell technology venture cellcentric as an equal shareholder alongside Volvo Group and Daimler Truck, Tata Motors expanding hydrogen truck trials across three routes in India, Air Liquide advancing its ELYgator hydrogen project at the Port of Rotterdam, and Sunfire shipping electrolyzer stacks for a 300 MW green hydrogen complex in Lingen, Germany. Taken together, these developments span project financing, electrolyzer manufacturing, vehicle technology and infrastructure, indicating parallel progress across multiple links in the green hydrogen value chain rather than any single bottleneck defining the sector's pace globally.

Source: Mining Weekly, 18 August 2026.