Namibia’s first gigawatt-scale green hydrogen project, the $10 billion Hyphen development programme, received a significant boost this week from Germany.
The German government provided Enertrag with a letter of intent verifying the project’s readiness for designation as a strategic foreign project.
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy is a Namibian-registered joint venture between Enertrag and Nicholas Holdings.
Strategic foreign project designation allows initiatives to get targeted support, which is reserved for high-priority worldwide projects of strategic relevance to Germany.
The initiative is viewed as the first step towards establishing a large-scale green hydrogen industry in various locations of Namibia, so supporting both economic growth in the Southern African country and assisting the globe in meeting its decarbonisation goals.
At full capacity, Hyphen is planned to produce 350 000 t of green hydrogen and two million tonnes of green ammonia per year by the end of the decade.
It received preferred-bidder status for the project in November 2021, which is set to be developed on 4,000 km2 of land in the Tsau //Khaeb National Park near Lüderitz.
Hyphen and the Namibian government plan to begin building in January 2025, with the first phase completed by the end of 2026. Furthermore, the Namibian government agreed in June that it will take a 24% equity part in the project, which aims to produce one million tonnes of green ammonia per year by 2027, followed by two million tonnes by 2029, primarily for export.
This output, which will come from 7 GW of renewable generation capacity and 3 GW of electrolyser capacity, will assist to combat climate change by removing five to six million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
Interestingly, the total investment throughout both phases is almost equal to Namibia’s current annual gross domestic output.
“Germany is working with Namibia to establish a green hydrogen economy that is sustainable for the population through hydrogen and Power-to-X collaboration. Similarly, the Hyphen project is committed to this.
“We are therefore prepared to categorise it as a foreign project, under certain conditions, in the strategic interest of the Federal Republic of Germany, and thus provide more support than usual through our foreign trade promotion instruments,” German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Dr. Robert Habeck stated in a media release to Engineering News & Mining Weekly.
Habeck and Enertrag CEO Dr Gunar Hering signed the letter of intent this week at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin as part of the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue, which was attended by Namibia Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo and Namibia green hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe, who also serves as the President of Namibia’s economic advisor.
Alweendo hailed the project as “the first building block in realising Namibia’s ambitions to incubate a thriving synthetic fuels industry”.
“This letter of intent from the German government is a strong signal, which further emboldens our collective efforts to deepen and diversify our trade relations,” he said.
“The Hyphen initiative not only contributes to the energy transition, but it also demonstrates the importance of international cooperation in the development of new energy-trade relationships based on a shared understanding of democracy.
“We are very pleased with the trust that the German government has placed in us with this letter of support,” said Dr. Tobias Bischof-Niemz, member of Enertrag’s international projects and technologies board.
“This letter of intent reflects the critical role that projects like ours will play in decarbonising heavy industry in Europe and beyond, as well as Germany’s leadership in driving global decarbonisation,” Hyphen Hydrogen Energy CEO Marco Raffinetti stated.
Enertrag, a global renewable energy company, generates more than terawatt-hours of power per year from its own facilities and also develops, builds, and operates integrated energy plants using wind and solar energy. Its 1,000-plus staff oversee projects with a 15 GW capacity in nine countries.
ILF Consulting Engineers, an independent worldwide engineering and consulting firm that has partnered with Hyphen, has acquired green-hydrogen credentials through projects in Canada, Finland, and Austria.
ILF will provide Hyphen with project management services, technical expertise, procurement and contract advice, and implementation expertise on the project’s socioeconomic development objectives, which include the creation of 15,000 construction jobs, 3,000 permanent jobs, and 30% local procurement.
The ILF’s hydrogen experience is likely to help Namibia accomplish project schedules and development objectives.
Dr Michel Kneller, ILF hydrogen director, praised Namibia’s progress as a “lighthouse project” set to contribute to the worldwide energy transformation.
The green hydrogen economy and platinum group metals hosted in Southern Africa are thought to be mutually beneficial.