One way of accelerating the reduction of carbon emissions is the use of green hydrogen as a zero-emissions energy carrier . In 2021 , the International Energy Agency ( IEA ) declared that hydrogen would be an essential source of energy for reducing carbon emissions . According to a recent report by the Hydrogen Council in collaboration with McKinsey & Company , 40 countries have developed national hydrogen strategies to tap into hydrogen ’ s potential to decarbonise and the industry has announced 680 hydrogen projects proposals as at the end of May 2022 .

However , the emerging green hydrogen industry is facing a multitude of challenges . One significant challenge is the skills , needs and training for a hydrogen-ready workforce . This pertains to both current and future skills needs and training requirements . A recent study on reskilling the green hydrogen economy found that 80 % of industry employees would require new hydrogen skills and further education about electrolysers , fuel cells , hydrogen storage and future refuelling

stations . The lack of skills development and training is the biggest challenge to growing South Africa ’ s hydrogen economy . It ’ s not just accessibility to hydrogen training that poses a challenge , but actually receiving the education and skills to meet industry needs .

The main barriers to closing the hydrogen skills gap in South Africa are a lack of expertise , funding , and a lack of training facilities and equipment such as electrolyser simulators . For this reason , more needs to be done to develop South Africa ’ s education infrastructure and physical infrastructure to support both current and future demand . If we are unable to develop this infrastructure in the next five years , we may miss the opportunity to be a leader in this rapidly growing industry . We need to plan now for the future growth and expansion of hydrogen energy .

In the future , a more comprehensive assessment of skills requirements will be needed . The current desktop modelling places a greater emphasis on engineering qualifications with extraordinarily little attention paid to occupational qualifications . Hydrogen safety training has been less of a priority , yet safety skills programmes will be a vital part of hydrogen education . Hydrogen can be an extremely dangerous gas to work with as it is highly flammable and hence appropriate training is essential .

In attempting to close the hydrogen skills and training gaps in South Africa , research by the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority ( CHIETA ) has identified 17 specific training and skills requirements .

Approximately 14 000 jobs are likely to be created including hydrogen systems engineers , technicians , gas fitters , and other associated trades and services .

The technical and regulatory uncertainties in South Africa provide a major challenge for effective skills planning . For this reason , leadership needs to be provided for enabling policy and regulatory changes . The education sector needs to work more closely with industry for joint skills planning and the co-creation of future training courses and learning materials . What is needed is more cross-sector collaboration and research development by engaging with industries such as transport , mining , manufacturing , energy , infrastructure and agriculture .

South Africa lacks the cross-sector collaboration to support skills development and training on green hydrogen . Crosssector collaboration and joint skills planning between government , the private sector and training authorities should be an apex priority for a hydrogen-ready workforce . Without cross-sector collaboration , a fragmented and piecemeal training landscape may evolve in which hydrogen training is expensive , exclusive and inaccessible to all .

Digital skills are the foundation for hydrogen skills . For this reason , South Africa needs to prioritise digital literacy skills programmes . A coherent digital literacy skills curriculum is required for hydrogen education . To this end , CHIETA has prioritised digital literacy skills by launching SMART Skills Centres across the country . CHIETA SMART

Associated Energy Services ( AES )

Yershen Pillay , CEO of CHIETA .

Skills Centres provide free digital literacy skills programmes including experiential learning using virtual reality technology for certain occupations . This first-of-its-kind SMART centre in Saldanha Bay has been opened to the public since 1 February this year . Eight new centres are planned over the next two years .

The biggest risk facing South Africa is the inability to seize the moment and implement green hydrogen at scale because of the lack of adequate skills and appropriate expertise . To mitigate this risk and close the hydrogen skills gap in South Africa requires a multipronged strategy that includes better coordination from government , cross-sector collaboration with industry , digital literacy programmes , and specialised training on electrolysers , fuel cells and hydrogen systems . The relevant expertise will have to be sourced to develop and deliver the training required by the industry . The country needs an explosion of training to become a leader in the global hydrogen economy . CLA