Platinum power
ENTREPRENEURS: Fuel cell plant developers Vinay Somera & Sakib Khan
Government’s hydrogen fuel cell strategy to use locally mined platinum and generate jobs has created an opportunity to make components for the global market
Two entrepreneurs, one a former Impala Platinum executive and the other an expert in fuel cell technologies, are seeking investors and partners for a potentially multimillion-rand project to manufacture fuel cell components in SA. The Isondo Precious Metals fuel cell project has been under development for four years by Vinay Somera and Sakib Khan. They have secured licences for technology from DuPont/Chemours, partnered with precious metals fabricators Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo of Japan and sourced a manufacturing plant from Coatem of Germany. Somera was Implats’ executive of market development & strategy until 2013 while Khan, who has a PhD in fuel cell technology, is a former MD of Intelligent Energy and founder of consultancy Enerleq. The plant will be operating by the end of the year, Somera says. Fuel cells generate electrical power without pollution. A fuel cell converts elements (most commonly hydrogen and oxygen) into water, and in the process it produces electricity. Unlike a ...
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