Hyphen promises environmental sustainability at Lüderitz

Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has promised to prioritise environmental sustainability as it embarks on its ambitious green hydrogen project within the Tsau //Khaeb National Park.

This comes as Jean-Paul Roux, an environmental specialist at Lüderitz, says the project is planned for an ecologically sensitive area.

“The park is an exceptional biodiversity hotspot. New species are being discovered, endangered cheetah is re-introduced in the park, and it is an important bird area with special plants,” he says.

With mounting concerns surrounding the potential environmental impact of the project, particularly concerning wind parks, pipelines and high-voltage power lines that may encroach on biodiversity hotspots in the park, Hyphen says the company is taking these concerns seriously.

Hyphen chief executive Marco Raffinetti says although the company is yet to start the environmental assessment process, it is required to not only adhere to Namibia’s environmental laws, but to also ensure compliance with internationally recognised standards for environmental and social sustainability, as outlined in the International Finance Corporation’s performance standards.

“The development of the project in an environmentally sustainable manner is also a prerequisite from both debt providers looking to provide funding to build the projects and offtaker countries looking to buy green hydrogen,” Raffinetti says.

He says the country’s first vertically integrated green hydrogen plant, which will be located in the national park’s Lüderitz area, will ensure the project reduces environmental impacts.

“From a project design philosophy perspective, Hyphen is committed to minimising environmental impacts of the project to avoid the highest environmentally sensitive areas, and minimising its environmental footprint,” Raffinetti says.

Hyphen has retained the services of international environmental consultants SLR Consulting to coordinate the completion of all the environmental specialist studies and prepare an environmental and social impact assessment (Esia) report.

The report will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism as part of an application for an environmental clearance certificate for the Hyphen project.

Raffinetti says the company has teams of environmental specialists out in the field collecting environmental baseline data.

“Hyphen has accelerated some of these studies to take advantage of the abnormally large rains experienced at the end of June, which resulted in an increase in plant and animal activity,” he says.

This baseline data will be used to further refine the design of the project to reduce potential environmental impacts.

Meanwhile, as part of the Esia report, Hyphen has engaged cultural heritage specialists to identify whether any cultural heritage sites exist within the project area, and whether they are likely to be impacted by the project.

According to the tourism ministry, access to the Tsau //Khaeb National Park is mostly restricted, and includes the museum at Kolmanskop, one concession to Pomona Ghost Town, and the Bogenfels rock arch.

Hyphen has already kicked off its public stakeholder engagement process, the company says.

Green hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe says the government is aware of the necessity to introduce several amendments to the nation’s laws and regulations to accommodate green hydrogen and support the green industrialisation agenda.

Mnyupe says the government has enlisted the support of numerous international experts via the African Legal Support Facility, which is preparing to conduct a three-day national workshop in collaboration with the attorney general, and the justice and energy ministries.

The primary objective of this workshop is to initiate the process of drafting potential amendments to existing laws, the creation of new legislative bills for parliamentary consideration, or the formulation of fresh sets of incentives by the Ministry of Finance.

Mnyupe says these changes would not be made at the expense of the environment.

“Green hydrogen has such stringent international requirements. It is imperative to make sure green hydrogen is produced in a commercially and environmentally viable way,” he says.