Civil society demands disclosure amid green hydrogen ‘secrecy’

The lack of transparency surrounding the government’s partnership with Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has raised the alarm among civil society organisations.

They are are now demanding full disclosure of the feasibility and implementation agreement signed with the company in March.

“There is a need for a joint letter to the Presidency demanding the publication of the feasibility and implementation agreement signed in March.

“Secrecy allows corruption to take place,” Graham Hopwood, the director of the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), says.

He said this during a green hydrogen discussion workshop held in Windhoek last week.

Hopwood said the tenders awarded to Hyphen Hydrogen Energy were not done transparently.

Hyphen has been awarded preferred bidder status on 4 000km2 of land within the Tsau //Khaeb National Park for the development of Namibia’s first fully vertically integrated scale green hydrogen project, with an investment cost of about US$10 billion.

Hyphen’s environmental, social, and governance head, Toni Beukes, has confirmed that there are no plans yet to make the contents of the feasibility and implementation agreements between Hyphen and the government available publicly.

Questions sent to green hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe were not answered at the time of going to print.

“Public confidence in the project depends on public transparency and accountability,” Hopwood said.

While the full content of both the feasibility and implementation agreements is not clear, the government is responsible for passing the necessary legal and fiscal regulations to enable the implementation of the project.

Hyphen is responsible for the technical, financial, environmental, social and commercial delivery of the project.

Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Henny Seibeb earlier this year also called tor transparency, saying the party only became aware of the government’s efforts towards adopting green hydrogen through the media.

Lazarus Kairabeb, the secretary general of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association, at the workshop raised concerns over the project’s impact on indigenous people’s heritage and resource rights.

“There is a need for openness and transparency from the government,” he said.

“We need to consider the conditions under which production can take place without compromising the well-being of current and future generations,” he said.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

The environmental impact of green hydrogen production, particularly in the former Sperrgebiet area, also came up during the discussion.
Kairareb said the increased pressure on land, water and resources will be exacerbated by green hydrogen production.

“Questions of land and freshwater availability are key, and minimum standards should be in place. Land is a highly contested resource in the context of Namibia.

“Land conflicts between Germans and Namibians haven’t been resolved yet and green hydrogen may heighten land conflicts,” he said.

He said Germany and Europe want to retain production and consumption of green hydrogen patterns by importing large volumes of it from countries such as Namibia.

Lüderitz-based community and environmental activist Jean-Paul Roux said while the project is being carried out, tourism concessions are not given to Lüderitz.

“The tourism sector employs more people than the mines . . . and hopes of opening the former Sperrgebiet for tourism were shot down,” he said.
Roux said wind parks, pipelines, and high-voltage power lines for the Hyphen project are located in biodiversity hotspots.

He said the planned port and transport infrastructure in the area would cut off access to the coast at Lüderitz – an area used for recreation, fishing, marine tourism, and which feature heritage and archaeological sites.

EXPORT STRATEGY FLAWED

Meanwhile, plans of producing large amounts of hydrogen and ammonia, mainly for exporting, were also questioned.

Herbert Jauch, the chairperson of the Economic Social Justice Trust, says this strategy could open the door to potentially exploitative practices, reminiscent of the exploitation witnessed in the past with fossil fuels, diamond mining, and other valuable natural resources.

He said for green hydrogen to break away from this extractive pattern and offer a more sustainable and equitable future, a fundamentally different approach must be adopted.

“The current secrecy around pertinent questions regarding Namibia ‘s benefits from green hydrogen is very worrying,” Jauch said.