Namibia has completed the registration of NH2 Fund Managers, an entity expected to manage SDG Namibia One, the country’s first blended finance infrastructure fund, Green Hydrogen Commissioner James Mnyupe has revealed.
SDG Namibia One is a bespoke blended financing infrastructure fund that will aim to raise capital from local institutional investors and investors from around the world to develop Namibian green hydrogen projects and related infrastructure.
Namibia’s Environment Investment Fund (EIF), in partnership with Climate Fund Managers, which led the registration of NH2 Fund Managers, will oversee the fund’s operations.
The fund’s creation comes as the government has secured €40 million (N$850 million) in grant funding from Invest International.
This funding will be channeled through SDG Namibia One to acquire a 24% equity stake in Hyphen Hydrogen Energy’s (Hyphen) US$10 billion (N$187 billion) project. At full capacity, this project is targeting 350,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen production per year from approximately 7GW of renewable generation capacity and around 3GW of electrolyser capacity.
“SDG Namibia One will seek suitable capital from both global and local investors interested in investing in Namibian Hydrogen Projects and related infrastructure,” he said.
Mnyupe also revealed that a recently completed pre-feasibility study of the Daures Green Hydrogen Village (DGHV) estimates that the project could produce up to 352,000 tons of green ammonia annually before 2030.
The project has now begun the Pre-Front End Engineering Design (PRE-FEED) work for the next phase, with its first meteorological mast (met mast) erected and about to collect vital wind data needed for the bankability of subsequent phases.
“The second met mast is halfway up, and both will be calibrated in the next few weeks,” he said, adding that Hyphen had started construction of its 10 met masts.
The Daures project is being funded with over N$220 million through a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for a period of 18 months, facilitated through the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL).
Mnyupe said the newly created Implementation Authority Office under the Green Hydrogen Namibia Programme is set to commence recruitment. “Two positions will be advertised on Friday: Executive Assistant to the Head of Program and Head of Planning Policy and Strategy. The local recruitment agency, Potentia, will handle the recruitment process,” he said.
This comes as the second call for the Youth for Green Hydrogen Scholarship has been issued, according to the Green Hydrogen Commissioner. “This call incorporates feedback received from the youth, hydrogen developers, academia, industry, government, and various skills and needs assessments conducted,” Mnyupe said.
Namibia has already awarded over 90 scholarships for Namibians to learn, upskill, and conduct research in the field of Green Hydrogen through the Namibian Youth for Green Hydrogen (Y4GH) Scholarship program.
The program, aimed at advancing the country’s green hydrogen agenda, is designed to ensure the availability of trained Namibians “who are fit for purpose” by early 2024. It is funded through a reserved amount of N$87.7 million.
According to Hyphen, Namibia has the potential to generate significant economic value through the production and export of green hydrogen, estimated at a staggering N$653 billion ($35 billion) in annual exports.
