IMPALA Platinum, which plans to take its entire refinery off the national electricity grid by installing hydrogen fuel cells, unveiled on Thursday an innovative technology that could thrust SA to the forefront of global hydrogen fuel cell developments.While the choice of a modest forklift to prove the technology may appear inauspicious, it has tested the concept for an innovative hydrogen refuelling station that costs a fraction of the price of international refuelling plants since October last year, and is likely to serve as an important development in SA’s quest to become a leading player in the global fuel cell business. And one that, importantly for platinum producers, provides another source of demand for their metal.Demand for platinum from fuel cell applications is small, at about 35,000oz a year. But in a decade, it could increase 10-fold to at least 300,000oz, an important market that would grow amid rising energy demands, said Paul Finney, Implats group executive of refini...
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