Conference Workshop

Mr. Henein is a seasoned business development manager with over 36 years of professional experience in various industries. He graduated with a Computer Science degree from the American University in Cairo in 1988 and later obtained an MBA in Marketing in 2009. Throughout his career, Mr. Henein has worked for international organizations in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He has extensive knowledge in cement, minerals, fertilizers, and renewable energy, with a focus on hydrogen and ammonia production for the renewables industry. Mr. Henein is a well-known figure in the industry and has spoken at various international conferences and webinars. He is also the manager of Hydrogen Intelligence, a platform that connects professionals in the hydrogen arena.

Resume

Jan de Kock started working in a power station two weeks after finishing his matric exams. Since then he graduated with a BEng, MEng and PhD in electrical engineering from Stellenbosch University. After graduating, he worked for Sasol for four years, spent seven years working as a consulting engineer at Netgroup and has since 2001 been a professor in electrical power engineering at North-West University. He has academic interests in electrical machines, transformers, power system dynamics, protection systems and high-voltage engineering. He has published articles in scientific journals and presented technical papers at local and international conferences. He has served on several SABS committees and represented South Africa on the IEC TC14 committee on power transformers. Prof de Kock is registered as a professional engineer with ECSA and is a fellow of the SAIEE. He has served on the SAIEE council for nine years in various roles. In 2013 he received the SAIEE presidential award and in 2018 the SAIEE engineering excellence award for his contribution to electrical engineering in South Africa.

Load-shedding – Can SA be saved?

Load-shedding is crippling South Africa. The estimated cost to the economy was as high as R899 million per day in 2022. Load-shedding was implemented for 207 days in 2022, more than double the amount of 2021. 3773 hours of load-shedding was recorded in 2022, more than treble the hours of 2021 and the shed energy more than quadrupled in the same period. Various options have been presented to solve the problem with small generators, PV plants, wind farms and battery storage being the most common suggestions. Can these technologies really solve our problems or are there hidden pitfalls people are not seeing? Are we just so desperate for electrical energy that we are willing to throw caution to the wind and endanger the lives of ordinary South Africans?

Dr. Marie-Laure Fontaine is research manager of the group Thin Film and Membrane Technologies at SINTEF Industry since 2021. Her research activities focus on the development of electrochemical devices for sustainable technologies aiming at power, chemicals and fuel production with CO₂ capture. She received her PhD on Materials Science and Engineering by the CIRIMAT at University of Paul Sabatier in Toulouse in 2005 focusing on solid oxide fuel cells. She has since been working on gas separation membranes for the selective removal of CO₂, H₂ or O₂, as well as proton ceramic based cells and stacks for steam electrolysis and co-electrolysis, and further integration with ammonia production. She is currently coordinating several European projects (WINNER, SUSTAINCELL) funded by Clean Hydrogen Partnership and leading the Research Activity RA1: Hydrogen and Ammonia production of the Centre for Environmentally friendly Energy Research (FME) HYDROGENi in Norway.

Education

• B.S. Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech.), 1964
• Ph.D. Tokyo Tech., 1969

Professional Experience

• 1981(3)-92(2) Associate Professor, Tokyo Tech.
• 1992(2)-05(3) Professor, Tokyo Tech.
• 2007(4)-12(3) Professor, The Open University of Japan
• 2013(7)-14(6) Program Officer, Research Office of Energy Carrier, ALCA, JST
• 2014(7)-19(3) Deputy Program Director "Energy Carrier" SIP
• 2020(11)-present Visiting Professor, KOSEN, Numazu College

Title of Presentation

“SA-Japan Green Ammonia and Hydrogen” project

Education

• B.S. Osaka pref. University, 1990
• Ph.D. Tokyo Tech., 1997

Professional Experience

• 1997- Research Associate, Tokyo Tech.
• 2000- Research Associate, Univ. California, Irvine
• 2010-present Professor, KOSEN, Numazu College

Title of Presentation

“SA-Japan Green Ammonia and Hydrogen” project

Director Southern and East Africa at HDF Energy

Nicolas is a French engineer. He has been operating in the renewable energy industry for 18 years, in different continents, including Brazil, China, Canada, and 10 years in Southern and East Africa.

Nicolas has held various positions in the value chain (from “greenfield” projects to their operation), construction and investment manager, including the first 3 MW wind turbines in France (2006), and the largest French photovoltaic park (2012), and leadership positions since.

Nicolas has supported the entry and growth of companies in different countries, by participating in acquisition processes (EDF Renewables’ entry in China, Greece) and/or by establishing local organizations.

In South Africa, he notably led the consortia that were awarded and then built and operated 4 wind projects under the national renewable energy tender program in South Africa (REIPPPP).

Currently, he leads Hydrogène de France / HDF Energy activities in Southern and East Africa.

Title of presentation

HDF activity in Southern Africa

Mr. Dumisani Nkala is the Senior Vice President for Low Carbon Energy Solutions at Sasol.

He is responsible for business development activities in the Sasol Energy Business focusing on Low Carbon Energy opportunities to support Sasol’s decarbonisation strategy and the development of new low carbon energy value pools. He is accountable for Energy Business’s green hydrogen and sustainable carbon opportunities identification and development.

Dumisani has been with Sasol for more than 25 years. During his career he has worked in various roles at Sasol’s South African operations. He has been exposed to a broad range of business activities, including roles in plant operations, corporate finance, marketing, and sales, as well Gas to Liquid (GTL) business development.

Hector Matlou Makgato, Technical Advisor: Research, Innovation and Capacity Building at the GIZ: H2.SA project. I am a clean energy scientist (including green hydrogen), business acumen, and social entrepreneur with MSc in Applied Chemistry and currently enrolling for Master of Business Administration. My core competencies include technical advisory, clean energy production, research & development, innovation management and commercialisation.

Title of presentation

Development of a green hydrogen economy in South Africa: Support from GIZ.

Prof Phillimon Modisha is leading research and development activities related to hydrogen storage and distribution, with a particular focus on the LOHC Technology. He joined HySA Infrastructure CoC in 2014 and worked on projects such as ammonia electrolysis and electrochemical hydrogen compression until the inception of LOHC technology project in 2016. He holds a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from North-West University Potchefstroom campus under the supervision of Prof Dmitri Bessarabov. His research is primarily focused on the catalyst development and improving the heat transfer of the dehydrogenation process for sustainable and efficient LOHC Technology. Furthermore, Phillimon is involved in EU-funded consortia including JUST-GREEN AFRH2ICA for promoting a just transition to green hydrogen in Africa.

Title of presentation

Just transition to green hydrogen: A case of South Africa