Four South African energy research chairs and six fellowship programs will be funded by investments from Sasol, a South African integrated energy and chemicals firm, and the National Research Foundation.
The objective is to increase the nation’s capacity for producing green hydrogen through technology, infrastructure, and the development of energy resources (R&D).
The $2.2 million in funds will be dispersed over the following five years.
The funding will support four national research chairs, which are part of a competitive call launched by Sasol and the National Research Foundation in 2022. These chairs will focus on green hydrogen, which will be supported by Professors Tien-Chien Jen from the University of Johannesburg and Prathieka Naidoo from Stellenbosch, and energy and power systems modeling, which will be supported by Professors Ramesh Bansal from the University of Pretoria and Sunetra Chowdhury from the University of
The funding will also support six post-doctoral innovation fellowships programs, which will encompass research in fields like green hydrogen, energy storage, and waste use for a circular economy. The University of Johannesburg, University of Pretoria, University of Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand, Durban University of Technology, and North-West University have each received awards for projects that will be carried out at Sasol’s research facilities in Sasolburg.
The initiatives are a part of Sasol and the National Research Foundation’s efforts to improve industrial knowledge exchange and to boost talent development in order to address the crucial energy concerns facing the nation.
Sasol and the National Research Foundation have already provided money of more than R150 million to 400 students and researchers working on initiatives related to sustainable energy that will be implemented over the next five years.
