Alternative energy is being sought out through the HyAfrica project, which is investigating the availability of natural hydrogen resources in numerous African countries.
Almost one million Euros come from the European Union and the African Union’s long-term collaborative research and innovation collaboration in the field of renewable energies (LEAP-RE). HyAfrica is the world’s first worldwide research effort focused on harnessing the power of natural hydrogen.
“Towards a next-generation renewable energy source — a natural hydrogen solution for power supply in Africa” is what HyAfrica stands for. This research is looking into the feasibility of using the hydrogen present in certain geological conditions in Africa to power off-grid and self-sufficient technologies in remote areas.
The Mohammed Premier University in Morocco, the University of Lomé in Togo, the Universities of Limpopo and Pretoria in South Africa, the Eduardo Mondlane University and the National Directorate of Geology and Mining in Portugal make up the project consortium led by the Portuguese SME Converge!, a spin-off from the University of Évora.
HyAfrica hopes to analyze the societal and economic effects of exploring the possibility for using hydrogen found in the local energy systems of Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, and Togo. The project’s ultimate goal is to convert hydrogen gas from geological formations into usable electricity.
The Fraunhofer IEE-led work package aims to investigate two community energy systems to evaluate the viability of natural hydrogen in decentralized and off-grid energy systems operating under specific business models in isolated or sparsely populated areas.
