THE German government will splash about N$500 million on four Namibian green hydrogen pilot projects, with TransNamib, the University of Namibia (Unam), the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport), and the Ohlthaver & List Group as some of the beneficiaries.
Granted by Germany's education ministry, the 30 million euro grant was yesterday announced by presidential economic adviser and hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe at the ongoing green hydrogen conference.
The four projects will be located in the Erongo region, which has been marked as 'valley 1' of the envisaged national hydrogen ecosystem.
This area would house the projects, which will stretch across the agriculture, logistics and refuelling industries.
The four projects – the Daures, Namport, Cleanergy and TransNamib project – have a combined value of over N$890 million (53,39 million euros), and some of the funds will be sourced by the initiators of the projects.
Mnyupe said stakeholders were to submit their individual contributions as the projects unfold.
He said some of the projects have already kicked off and were just waiting for the main announcement to proceed.
The Daures project will focus on agriculture, and will seek to establish a green-scheme programme for ammonia nitrate crops, the storage and transport of green hydrogen, ammonia and related derivatives, as well as the development of fuel cell-operated centre pivots, boreholes and houses.
This project has a value of N$251 million and will be embarked on in collaboration with Unam, the University of Stuttgart, Enapter, Windwise, and Enersense Nam.
The Namport project is worth over N$94 million, and will seek to enable Namport to convert existing port equipment to operate on hydrogen dual fuel technology, and to develop green hydrogen bunkering and refuelling infrastructure at the port.
This project's partners are Cleanergy Solutions Namibia, CMB Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Namport, and Unam.
Project Cleanergy has the highest value at N$416 million, and will be implemented by CMB.Tech, the Ohlthaver & List Group and Cleanergy Solutions Namibia.
The purpose of the plant is to test technologies, to develop offtake applications within the transport sector, mining sector and port activities, and to facilitate technology transfer and skills development into Namibia.
The fourth project, Mnyupe said, plans to enable TransNamib's locomotives to run on green hydrogen.
The ideal is to have 50 locomotives converted to green hydrogen dual fuel.
The pilot project would do a test run on one locomotive first, converting its engines to run on green hydrogen, as well as fitting tankers, among other logistical enablers to transport the gas.
This project has a value of N$127 million and will be implemented by CMB.Tech, Unam, Hyphen Technical, TransNamib, the Namibia Green Hydrogen Research Institute, and Nicholas Holdings.
At yesterday's conference, Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board chief executive officer Nangula Uandja said a document will be produced to further update Namibians on the standing of the country on the new sector.
Speaking at the conference, Hans Hermes, the vice president of Worley International, said a huge market exists for green hydrogen, but Africa would most likely only become a big player by 2025.
“It is therefore important to get things right from the onset and leverage on already available research,” he said.
The engineer said the existing demand for green hydrogen globally is 10 times more than all the current operational projects, and therefore Namibia has a real chance to position itself well.
Hermes also cautioned the country to make the necessary moves as it relates to skilled labour regulatory frameworks, infrastructure, supply and available trained specialists.
He said Namibia should be ahead in ensuring that a price for locally produced hydrogen is determined accordingly.
The mentioned projects and the green hydrogen sector in general is expected to be influenced by over 22 laws, which Corina van Wyk, the coordinator of land, environment and development projects at the Legal Assistance Centre, said need to be revamped or attended to as it relates to the industry.
She said enforcement agencies should be capacitated to ensure that laws are adhered to and penalties be levied in case of identified irregularities.
Van Wyk further urged the state to consult widely when drafting legislation.
“A management plan is needed, and getting the communities involved is important. There is also a need to be transparent when things don't go right, and the communities must be informed on what the harms of the green hydrogen industries are,” she said.
Asked whether green hydrogen was yet another pipe dream for the country, the Economic Association of Namibia's chairperson, Jason Kasuto, said while Namibians are almost getting used to unrealised projects, green hydrogen was different.
Kasuto said green hydrogen offers an opportunity for the country to change the structure of the economy and owning the value chain, instead of just being a recipient of taxes and royalties.
Local economist Klaus Schade said work is also being done to measure well beforehand how meaningful the industry is expected to be to ordinary Namibians.
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