By Dr Grant Muller
Exponential advances in technology and the demand for clean energy presents Namibia with an opportunity to become a global powerhouse and key player in the energy transition. Most nations around the world acknowledge the effects that carbon emissions have on climate change with the resulting catastrophic impact to the planet, if we do not decarbonize human activity.
New wind and solar plants are being rolled out at a scale that a few years ago would have seemed impossible. Just in 2023 alone, almost 500GW of solar and wind energy was installed globally, which is more generation capacity than the entire nuclear energy industry combined.
This shift is as a result of the phenomenal advances in science and technology of solar, wind and battery energy storage technologies. These technological advances have reduced the cost of renewable energy to a small fraction of what they were only two decades ago, offering the world a pathway to arrest climate change and a trigger for the global energy transition.
As with most new technologies, the green hydrogen industry and developers are facing their challenges, which range from securing offtake to slow implementation of subsidy mechanisms to addressing the green premium associated with green hydrogen. Although these challenges exist, governments around the world are aware of these challenges and more importantly remain committed to achieving their decarbonisation goals which requires a transition to green hydrogen for key sectors of their economies.
In response to these challenges, the key markets of Europe, Japan and Korea are developing a range of policies and support measures to accelerate the development of this emerging sector. This is not dissimilar to the early challenges faced in the evolution of the wind, solar and battery technologies, where specific policies and subsidies interventions drove innovation to accelerate the maturation of the industry and reduce costs of the technologies.
However, the emerging green hydrogen industry is at a similar stage today as solar, wind and large-scale battery energy storage was two decades ago; with one key difference: we now have the benefit of hindsight. This hindsight allows us to see how rapidly technology can evolve, achieving cost parity with fossil fuels through industry scale-up and the support of well-designed policy interventions. Green hydrogen production costs are projected to fall significantly over the coming decade as the industry matures, reaching cost parity with fossil-fuel-based hydrogen as soon as the late 2020s.
Turning to Namibia, with some of the best solar and wind resources in the world, combined with large open spaces, a strong legal system, stable political environment and a young ambitious population – all the necessary enablers to produce renewable energy cheaply. As the world is in desperate need of clean energy, it is these enablers which present Namibia with the opportunity to capitalize on the energy transition and set a path for enduring prosperity.
With these necessary enablers, supported by international offtake and decarbonisation measures required to accelerate the adoption of green hydrogen into the global energy mix to meet global net zero commitments, developers around the world are willing to invest their capital in Namibia to implement the needed green hydrogen projects. Namibia, therefore, is in a unique position to embrace this opportunity; and by providing the right support and policies, transform itself for the benefit of its people by embracing its competitive advantage in its worldclass renewable energy resources and its young and ambitious population.
*Dr Grant Muller is Chairperson of The Namibian Green Hydrogen Association (NamGHA)
The Namibia Green Hydrogen Association (NamGHA) is a private sector initiative, offering a platform for developers, investors, lenders, contractors, goods and service providers to engage, network, exchange and learn, as well as a platform for the green hydrogen industry to collectively engage with local and international policy makers and the governments on aspects critical to the advancement, enhancement and the sustainable development of the green hydrogen industry in Namibia. To learn more about NamGHA, please visit our website on https://namgha.org/
