- Hive Hydrogen issued EPC bids for its $5.8 billion Coega Green Ammonia Project in South Africa, covering a 1 Mt/year ammonia plant, 1,430 MW solar, and 1,879 MW wind.
- The project, set to export by 2029, has attracted global interest and secured R360 million in development funding.
Hive Hydrogen released requests for proposals (RfPs) on Tuesday to 15 shortlisted engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms, marking the final stage of development for the Coega Green Ammonia Project in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The company selected the firms from 48 respondents to a request for information it issued earlier this year. The RfPs cover a broad scope, including a plant to produce over one million tonnes of green ammonia per year, seawater abstraction and desalination facilities, demineralisation infrastructure, and ammonia storage with dual 7-kilometre pipelines.
In addition, Hive invited proposals for 1,430 megawatts (MW) of solar power from nine farms and 1,879 MW of wind power across two clusters of five wind farms.
The release comes less than a month after the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town, where South Africa’s Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa recognised Coega as a “lighthouse” project. At the same event, Hive Hydrogen secured an R360-million funding agreement to advance the project to a final investment decision (FID).
“This milestone reflects four years of intense work,” Hive Hydrogen Chairperson Thulani Gcabashe said in a statement. “A team of more than 120 professionals, including engineers, legal and financial advisers, and environmental experts, have worked tirelessly to get us here.”
Gcabashe, a former Eskom CEO and former Standard Bank chair, added that international EPCs from Europe, the UK, and the Far East actively collaborate with South African firms on the project.
The $5.8-billion Coega Green Ammonia Project, developed by Hive Hydrogen South Africa, will export green hydrogen-derived ammonia to Asia and Europe in 2029 or 2030. The company said its pricing model will undercut international green and blue ammonia benchmarks.
The current RfPs focus on completing front-end engineering design and construction for the ammonia plant and its renewable power sources. Last month, the project’s solar power component reached 1,430 MW, which will meet 40% of its total power demand.
Hive is also in talks with strategic partners, such as ammonia off-takers, OEMs, shipping firms, and energy operators, who aim to take equity stakes ahead of or at the FID expected in Q3 2026.
Hive Hydrogen is a joint venture between Hive Energy and BuiltAfrica. The UK-based Hive Energy, active in 22 countries, has developed over 3,000 MW of solar capacity worldwide and is pursuing green hydrogen projects in Spain, Chile and Turkey.
BuiltAfrica, based in Midrand, South Africa, was founded by Gcabashe in 2008 and has developed solar projects under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).