Daures Green Hydrogen Consortium has struck its first offtake agreement with Zimbabwean ammonium nitrate fertilizer manufacturer, Sable Chemicals.
The non-binding agreement, which was finalised last week, will see Sable Chemicals taking up to 40,000 tonnes of green ammonia, a key component in its fertilizer manufacturing process, from the Daures Green Hydrogen Village in Namibia.
“Sable Chemicals produces ammonium fertilizer and ammonia is a big input into their operations. We signed a non-binding MoU and we finalised it last week. The said MoU is to explore around the intent for Sable Chemicals to take off about 40,000 tonnes of green ammonia from the Daures Green Hydrogen Village,” CEO of Daures Green Hydrogen Consortium Jerome Namaseb told The Brief.
“What it does show is that regionally there is a market. It also shows collaboration between various countries…and that this thing is not as far-fetched as what some detractors of hydrogen and ammonia make it seem.”
Namaseb added that the timelines for the MoU are yet to be defined as Namibia’s latest green hydrogen project “will not be producing 40,000 tonnes of green ammonia in phase 1. We will probably be able to meet that capacity in phase 3, so you are looking at probably a 2- to 3-year timeline, depending on funds raised.”
He said the company had also inked an agreement with London Stock Exchange-listed firm, AfriTin Mining, which operates the Uis Tin Mine, in the decarbonisation of its mining operations.
“We have a collaboration with AfriTin around potential mining decarbonisation. For example, that will entail how hydrogen and ammonia will be used to assist with decarbonising some aspects of their operations. What makes it interesting is that we are in the same neighbourhood,” the Daures Green Hydrogen Consortium CEO said.
AfriTin is an African technology metals mining company with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in Namibia and currently exploring for lithium and tantalum at the Uis mine in Namibia, where it currently mines tin, after having encountered high average lithium grade during exploration.
Namaseb was, however, tight lipped on the costs involved in the implementation of the project which will produce 31 tonnes of hydrogen and 109 tonnes of ammonia per year in phase 1 using 0.99MW of renewable energy.
“We are in the process of finalising our funding requirements for phase 1 and for subsequent phases, that fundraising effort needs to commence. Undisclosed cost of project. We would like to wait until the funding requirements for phase one are met before we can disclose to the public,” he said.
Phase 1, according to the company, will also see the production of 500 tonnes of tomatoes and 600 tonnes of carrots, making it Namibia’s first carbon-free agriculture produce, while creating over 70 sustainable jobs and over 100 temporary jobs during construction.
Phase 1’s groundbreaking will take place in March 2023 and will include an official groundbreaking ceremony.
Phase 4 of the project will result in production of 352,000 tonnes of green ammonia using 1GW worth of renewable energy and a 420MW electrolyzer, while creating over 1,000 sustainable green jobs according to the company.
This comes as Hyphen Hydrogen Energy was appointed preferred bidder by the Namibian government to develop the country’s first green hydrogen project for export and by 2027 the project aims to annually produce 1 million tonnes of green ammonia – a hydrogen derivative.
Another project being developed in the country is the Renewstable® Swakopmund by HDF Energy, which consists of an 85MW solar park and a green hydrogen production unit, with the facility expected to begin commercial operations in 2024.
