Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) has set aside 350 hectares of land at Walvis Bay’s North Port for allocation to Green Hydrogen related industries.
The latest development comes as the company readies itself to become the Green Hydrogen Export Hub for Europe and the rest of the World.
“The allocated port land is supported by the recently commissioned two, 90,000 dead weight tonnage capacity liquid bulk jetties (berth 100 and 101) with a draft of -16.0 (m), which can be used to export green hydrogen through the Port of Walvis Bay North Port. Over the long-term, additional port infrastructure such as berths or quay walls or common user pipelines might still have to be developed to support growth for the export of green hydrogen,” the ports operator said.
Namport said it will follow the landlord model in both the Port of Walvis Bay and Luderitz to accommodate the green hydrogen industry.
“This means that common infrastructure such as berths and pipelines may be developed by Namport and operated on common user principles whereby green hydrogen developers awarded concessions by the Government of Namibia will have equitable access to the port infrastructure to facilitate their respective exports of green hydrogen,” the ports company said.
Namport said the green hydrogen industry has provided new impetus for the deeper water port project at Angra Point, and the company is now revising past studies carried out on the project to determine how best to accommodate green hydrogen related industries inside the planned new port.
“Additionally, the planned new deep-water port of Luderitz at Angra Point would complement the North Port in cementing the country’s drive to become a hub for the production and export of green hydrogen to Europe,” the company added.
The revelation by the ports operator comes after it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Port of Rotterdam, aimed at collaborating on various areas of mutual interest, but more specifically on how best to position the two ports to become green hydrogen export hubs and facilitate anticipated growth and flow of the green hydrogen supply chain from Namibia to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The MoU follows Namibia’s new policy decision to position itself as a hub for the production and distribution of green hydrogen.
The Netherlands, according to Namport, is at an advanced stage of planning for the deployment of green hydrogen energy and the Port of Rotterdam anticipates a demand of 20 million tonnes of hydrogen per annum to pass through its industrial complex by the year 2050.
“Namport has thus taken note of the great benefits which stand to accrue to the country and the region from the adoption and roll out of green hydrogen energy and the need to position our ports to facilitate the movement of project materials and other components initially during the construction phase of the projects and, the future export of the hydrogen and other by products to international markets,” Namport said.
“Both Namport and Port of Rotterdam are keen to play a complementary and catalyzing role in the development of the supply chain of hydrogen from Namibia to Rotterdam. Hence the MoU gives the Namibian hydrogen initiative a great opportunity to form part of the energy supply mix to serve Northwestern Europe.”
The government is banking on green hydrogen to attract more than US$6 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) which is anticipated to generate annual revenues in excess of US$800 million.
