In its search for new energy suppliers, Bavaria is also looking to cooperate with South Africa.
Bavaria’s Minister of State for European Affairs and International Affairs, Melanie Huml (CSU), therefore wants to travel to the province of Western Cape there, the State Chancellery announced in Munich on Wednesday.
Western Cape is one of six Bavarian partner regions. Huml: “We are connected by a long friendly partnership at eye level. Above all, we want to start our cooperation in the use of green hydrogen.”
In the course of the energy turnaround, the state government is currently working on a portfolio of countries from which the Free State can obtain energy in the future – to this end, for example, Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger wants to travel to Scotland and Norway, while a trip by Minister President Markus Söder to the Gulf States had to be canceled at short notice before Easter due to a Corona infection.
Talks are planned with government representatives, educational institutions and social institutions. The highlight of the trip would be a meeting with Prime Minister Alan Winde and five ministers from his cabinet, it added. The Western Cape has great potential for the use of renewable energy, it said. There is sufficient wind, solar and hydroelectric power – ideal conditions for the production and export of hydrogen.
South Africa is the only African G20 member and the third strongest African business location. The partnership between Bavaria and the Western Cape Province dates back to 1995 and focuses on homeland security and vocational training. However, business and research, high-tech and universities, agriculture and renewable energies are also areas of cooperation.
