Kaoko Green Energy Solutions has announced plans to develop a hydrogen hub in the Kunene Region.
The envisaged green hydrogen derivatives project―Purros Hydrogen Hub (PHH)―is expected to be developed on 970 hectares of land.
The project feasibility study and piloting of Purros Green Hydrogen are estimated to cost N$180 million and is envisaged to commence in October this year.
The project will run until July 2024, with the groundbreaking ceremony of the pilot project to be held in November 2024.
“The pilot is one year, which means the operation and production will only kick off in November 2025. This green hydrogen project is focused on three areas in the first phase of the feasibility study: ammonia as a green hydrogen carrier (35,000 kg of ammonia per year), synthetic diesel (500 barrels of diesel per year), and Impact Hydrogen’s hycooker (hydrogen cooking flame for rural communities),” Kaoko Director Gerson Nasau told The Brief.
“The green ammonia will be used as a carbon-free energy carrier to be exported to China, Europe and South Africa. While the synthetic diesel produced will serve as a green hydrogen feedstock. Synthetic diesel is a liquid fuel that can be produced from green hydrogen and carbon dioxide or other feedstocks, such as biomass. The synthetic diesel produced will be used as fuel for transportation. This fuel can be used in existing diesel engines without modifications or mixed with petrodiesel.”
Upon realisation, the project intends to incorporate a hycooker, a cooking flame that uses green hydrogen as a fuel source, which will subsequently be designed for use in homes and commercial kitchens, replacing traditional gas cookers and wood commonly used in the Kunene Region.
“Kunene has the challenge of rural electrification due to the sparse population, which makes it difficult for distribution of electricity. Hence the hycooker will benefit the local community and replace fire woods which are hard to find in Purros since it is a desert. On the other hand, water is key in the green hydrogen production and one part of the project is to use groundwater, hence the drilling of boreholes in the area will also provide much-needed water to the local communities,” he said as part of the community upliftment,” he said.
The company in partnership with a Finnish technology company AW-Energy, is also in the process of carrying out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for a pilot project called /hao Pilot project to utilize the power of Namibia’s coastal waves to generate electricity using WaveRoller devices.
The feasibility and piloting of the /hao pilot project are projected to cost N$20 million, which will cater for the deployment of five WaveRoller-X devices.
“The devices will be deployed in the Namibia water to generate clean and affordable electricity from ocean waves and then deliver 200MWh per year of electricity to communities close to the coast of the Erongo Region in Namibia. WaveRoller-X device is rated at 15kW per unit with an estimated capacity factor of about 35 to 40%,” Nasau said.
“The project will be located on the coastline of Swakopmund where wave energy is the flow of energy both during the day and during the night. Wave energy changes at a much lower rate and is more predictable than wind and solar. These characteristics prompt the development of the technology, hence the pilot project and support the grid and reduce the amount of storage needed.
“WaveRoller enables lower-cost energy production. Currently, Kaoko Green Energy Solutions are looking for partners (equity or debt) to team up for the deployment of the units, first through this pilot project and then own the asset of wave energy generation that will also serve as a research project to cement the scientific evidence of Namibia’s strong coastal waves with potential to generate green energy,” Nasau added.
