The first phase, expected to cost $4.4 billion, is expected to enter production in 2026, with the second phase to follow in the late 2020s.
Hydrogen produced through electrolysis of water using solar or wind power will be converted into green ammonia and transported by sea to foreign markets. The site of the project will be the Tsau//Khaeb National Park on the Atlantic coast.
“The Tsau //Khaeb National Park is among the top five locations in the world for low-cost hydrogen production, benefitting from a combination of co-located onshore wind and solar resources near the sea and land export routes to market,” said HYPHEN CEO Marco Raffinetti.
Namibia is one of Africa’s top 10 producers of solar power. In 2020, the country stood in seventh place on the continent in terms of installed capacity of solar panels (145 MW), behind the continent’s three leaders – South Africa (5,990 MW), Egypt (1,694 MW) and Morocco (734 MW). Installed capacity of wind farms in Namibia totalled 5 MW – accounting to less than 0.1 % of the total for the region (6,491 MW).
According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Africa’s share of world-wide demand for hydrogen in 2020 stood at 3 % (3 million of 90 million tonnes). More than 70 % of demand is accounted for by the chemicals sector, particularly for production of nitrogen fertiliser, which plays a key role in ensuring food security on the continent.
Among other African countries that have already announced plans to produce green hydrogen are Morocco, where a tender for construction of 100 MW of electrolyser capacity is to take place in 2022, and Egypt, where new electrolyser capacities, also 100 MW, are to be brought on stream in November.
