idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
How can countries in southern Africa become key players in the global trade in green hydrogen? And what role do sustainability and certification requirements in importing countries play in this process? A new whitepaper published by the Fraunhofer Institutes IEE, ISI, IEG and IMWS provides a first systematic analysis of how differing power‑to‑x (PtX) certification requirements influence the ramp‑up of hydrogen and synthetic fuel export markets from the SADC region – and why strategic decisions already in early project phases are crucial.
Green hydrogen and its derivatives are regarded as key technologies for a climate‑neutral industry and international energy trade. For countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), this opens up new economic opportunities as potential export regions. At the same time, markedly diverging sustainability and certification requirements across importing countries pose a central challenge, as they significantly determine whether and under which conditions PtX products can gain access to international markets.
The whitepaper was developed within the HySecunda project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). In this collaborative project, nine Fraunhofer Institutes work interdisciplinarily towards the international market ramp‑up of green hydrogen and its derivatives in the SADC region.
“The successful ramp‑up of an international hydrogen economy requires more than technological innovations alone. With HySecunda, we therefore pursue a systemic approach that integrates technology development, regulatory frameworks and capacity building. Only when these three dimensions are considered together can sustainable value creation, international market integration and resilient hydrogen partnerships emerge,” says Marie Plaisir, project manager at Fraunhofer IEE.
Qualitative assessment of relevant import markets
Within the project, a whitepaper entitled “Navigating PtX Certification Challenges: Qualitative Assessment of Sustainability Requirements and Cost Dynamics for Exports from the SADC‑Region” has now been published. The contribution provides a comprehensive qualitative overview of the political, legal and economic framework conditions for PtX exports from the SADC region.
The analysis covers four potential import regions – the European Union, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan – focusing on their respective certification schemes, legal requirements and market incentive mechanisms. Among others, the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), H2Global, atmosfair fairfuel, the UK RTFO scheme and various Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandates are assessed with regard to their relevance for establishing a PtX export hub in the SADC region. In addition, the study qualitatively examines how sustainability requirements can influence the system design and cost structure of PtX production plants.
Impacts on system design, costs and investment decisions
A key finding of the analysis is that PtX sustainability requirements differ significantly across the four import regions and are most stringent and detailed in the European Union. These differing requirements across country‑specific regulatory frameworks necessitate early decisions on target import markets in order to design PtX production facilities accordingly.
Furthermore, the whitepaper presents policy feedback on EU PtX criteria as well as insights from stakeholder discussions on PtX certification in the SADC region. Building on the qualitative findings, further quantitative analyses are planned within the HySecunda project to investigate the impact of sustainability requirements on PtX plant costs and system configurations by the end of this year.
Marie Plaisir
https://www.iee.fraunhofer.de/en/presse-infothek/press-media/2026/new-whitepaper...
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