The president of Namibia recently signed a 10-billion-dollar agreement with the German company Hyphen Energy to produce “green hydrogen,” a renewable energy source that proponents view as the fuel of the future.
Last Friday, Hyphen Energy and the Namibian government reached a multibillion-dollar agreement for the construction of the project in Tsau Khaeb National Park.
If a feasibility study determines that the project is feasible, Hyphen will construct factories, pipelines, and terminals in order to produce 2 million tons of ammonia by 2030.
The ammonia, which could be used as a fuel, would be manufactured using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. Additionally, the initiative would generate oxygen and electricity for local use.
James Mnyupe, Namibia’s green hydrogen commissioner and the president’s economic adviser, told Voice of America that Hyphen Energy has made agreements with German, English, South Korean, and Japanese companies that will guarantee consumers for the company’s primary products.
He stated that the renewable hydrogen initiative will be vertically integrated.
“In other parts of the world, you might have one player developing the port, another player developing the pipelines, another player developing the renewable energy, and so on,” he said. “However, for this project, we plan to do all of these things under one umbrella; this is the definition of a vertically integrated project.”
Marco Raffinetti, the chief executive officer of Hyphen, stated that procuring funding for green hydrogen initiatives is a monumental task, but investments are required if the world is to reduce the carbon emission from fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.
Raffinetti stated that alternative energy sources, such as solar energy, were very costly twenty years ago, but have since become less expensive. He stated that green hydrogen may pursue the same path.
However, Namibian political commentators have raised red flags about the rapid implementation of the project being led by the presidency. They query whether or not the project has national support.
Pendapala Hangala, a political analyst, expressed some reservations about the initiative in an interview with VOA.
“This is a 45-year endeavor, a 40-year endeavor, and… I do not believe the proper procedures were followed, and it is unclear what is going on because we are also examining a critical basic material…. “My concern is that a comprehensive project is being accelerated,” he said.
This renewable hydrogen initiative is the largest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, according to its proponents.
Other countries, such as Morocco, are also launching green hydrogen initiatives, and Namibian commentators wonder what competitive advantage Namibia would have over countries closer to Europe, which is regarded as the primary market.
