Namibia signed a letter of intent with Maersk McKinney Moller Institute for Zero Carbon Shipping to conduct a pre-feasibility study on green maritime corridors.
The Green Corridor pre-feasibility is a global blueprint carried out in 2022, under the Green Hydrogen Catapult by Maersk McKinney Moller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping and Rocky Mountain Institute; which advocates for scaling up green hydrogen production capacity by 50 times.
In addition, it calls for the deployment of 80GW new renewable powered electrolisers, of which Catapult members have already committed 4GW.
The agreement was signed by Namibia Green Hydrogen Commissioner James Mnyupe, at an occasion where the Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, said the agreement signifies a key commitment Namibia is making to develop green shipping corridors while championing sustainable economic development for the country, the Southern African Community and the world.
“Not only will these corridors decarbonise important shipping routes, but they would also ensure investment and development of green bunkering infrastructure that would not otherwise exist in Namibia, helping us enhance our gross fixed capital formation and diversify our exports and economic structure,” said Alweendo while speaking on Green Shipping Challenge: Leading the Global Energy Transition, at the ongoing COP28 summit in Dubai.
The Green Shipping Challenge is intended to encourage Parties, ports, companies, and other actors in the shipping value chain to come forward with concrete announcements at COP 28 that will help put the shipping sector on a pathway this decade to align with the goal to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
Alweendo said, Namibia is ready to answer the decarbonisation call, with a bustling port that has seen activities rise from 1,303 vessels in 2021 to 1,592 in 2022 docking at both Lüderitz and Walvis Bay harbours. Whereas the total cargo handled was 5.94 million tons in 2022.
Total cargo handled peaked in 2012 with 6.522 million tonnes.
“In 2021 154,207 containers were handled at our port container terminal, and in 2022 it increased to 168,278. The terminal has a capacity to handle 750,000 TEUs per annum. These are happening, as Namibia has plans to start manufacturing synthetic fuels with an ambition to produce up to 10 to 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2050. To deliver on this ambition, Namibia in concert with its global partners, will need to develop substantial new port infrastructure,” said Alweendo.
Adding that, maritime shipping is the lifeblood of the global economy, with the consumption of marine fuels accounting for over 5% of global oil demand and 2.5% of global carbon emissions.
The Minister further said, there are 12 ports around the world accounting for 40% of world-wide ship bunkering, with Singapore alone accounting for 16%.
“We need to grow this portfolio. The introduction of green corridors, specific routes on which stakeholders across the value chain collectively agree to adjust bunkering infrastructure such that vessels along the route are powered by green fuels, will be critical to the bunkering overhaul necessary for the effective adoption of synthetic fuels,” he said.
