Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, a company appointed to undertake the large-scale clean energy project in the Tsau //Khaeb national park, has committed to making Namibia a net zero country by 2030.
The project is being developed as the first step in the implementation of the government’s strategy for the development of a large-scale green hydrogen industry in various regions in Namibia.
The project will support economic growth in Namibia and assist the world in achieving its decarbonisation goals.
Namibia is a signatory to both the Kyoto Accord and the Paris Agreement, which oblige participants to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
“The journey we are embarking on today will not only make Namibia the first country in Africa to reach net zero by 2030 but also support the region in the energy transition. If successful this will come with a boost for Namibian people to participate economically,” said Gunar Hering the Chief Executive Officer of Enertrag, a company that partnered with Hyphen.
“Our mission is to contribute to Namibia’s goals with our technical and operational expertise including our resources. We will give our best we can to succeed at any cost.”
These remarks were made at the signing of the Feasibility and Implementation Agreement of the Green Hydrogen Project entered into by Hyphen Hydrogen Energy and the Namibian Government on Friday.
The agreements were signed by Environment, Forest and Tourism Minister Pohamba Shifeta, Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises Iipumbu Shiimi and Works and Transport Minister John Mutorwa, while Hyphen CEO Marco Raffinet, Simon Hagedorn and Tobias Bischof-Niemz represented Hyphen.
“I have to confess as we stand here today, I was actually wrong in the beginning, but it was because of President Hage Geingob who recognised Namibia’s wind and solar resources as having the potential to become an energy powerhouse. Therefore, when I look at the scale of opportunity, it is not considered too small, but a size that will require all our efforts to make it a right including support from government, businesses and the community,” said Hyphen’s Raffinet.
Hyphen said, they feel the weight placed on the country and on their shoulders to deliver upon the ambitions of the Harambee Prosperity Plan, with the potential to transform Namibia’s economy.
“The hard work of signing the agreement is done, the journey is not going to be easy, as it will be incredibly hard going forward. We want to play our role as a stepping stone of Namibia becoming a leading green hydrogen producer, thus the next 18 months will not be easy,” the firm said.
Hyphen successfully bid on and has been awarded preferred bidder status on 4,000 square kilometres of land within the Tsau //Khaeb National Park for the development of Namibia’s first fully vertically integrated gigawatt scale green hydrogen project.
The US$10 billion project is planned to be developed in phases, at full development targeting 350,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen production a year from 7GW of renewable generation capacity and 3GW electrolyser.
The project once fully developed will employ an estimated 3,000 people, with 15,000 construction jobs supported over the four-year construction period. Over 90% of these jobs are expected to be filled by local Namibians.
Meanwhile, President Geingob said, it was because of cooperation among the community of the south that the project is kicking off the ground. The President recalled the unfortunate demise of the Epupa HydroPower that was to be constructed in the Kunene Region which failed because of opposing communities.
“The Epupa project would have brought benefits to the community, they are known to be poor and this could have uplifted them, but they fought against. Here, people of the South who are considered to be poorer worked together and agreed to have this project, hence we are hopeful to see them reap the benefits and be alleviated from poverty,” he said.
In addition, the Minister of Environment said the environmental commissioner’s office has done a tremendous job to see to it that no environmental issues arise or are compromised, and the office has since issued an environmental clearance certificate to allow for operations.
