As a means to add value and stimulate the infant Green Hydrogen (GH) industry in Namibia, a Green Industrial Economic Zone (GIEZ) model of business is on the cards, an official has said.
According to GH commissioner James Mnyupe, GIEZ will entail areas used by industries to manufacture and modify machineries that can operate on green hydrogen, such as hybrid tractors that can use both green hydrogen and diesel, among others.
Mnyupe says deploying such business models will greatly benefit the country, as it will shy away from exporting raw materials, thus leveraging from trading in protected yet preferential markets.
“By establishing these projects that use green hydrogen, we are exporting and driving that energy to one area of green industrial zones where we can attract manufacturers who are energy-intensive businesses to make green products, to be exported to Europe,” he said.
“Government through green industrial economic zones, gets market preference, especially in areas that are protected, such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).”
CBAM is a carbon tariff on carbon intensive products, such as cement and some electricity, imported by the European Union.
Myupe made these remarks at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Daures Green Hydrogen Village project in the Erongo Region, located on a 15,000-hectare piece of land. The project is envisaged to generate in excess of one gigawatt of renewable energy powered by solar and wind turbines when fully operational.
“So, we are not ending with the Daures project, we need to move forward and add value to whatever that is derived from there. For instance, we can begin, in Walvis Bay where there is a sizeable portion of land that is not far from Namport, which can be turned into a green hydrogen industrial hub, to start assembling some of the equipment to be deployed to Daures or Luderitz such as the wind turbines and electrolysers,” he said.
He further underscored that such projects are good to resuscitate the construction sector which was on a downward trend for some years.
Till Mansmaan a representative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research―one of the project funders of Daures Green Hydrogen Village with a funding of €12 million (N$238,056,787)―said it unlocks potential for the development of first ever locomotive to be powered by diesel and hydrogen through the venture.
Mansmaan says the funds made available are for the building and assembling of equipment to be used.
