Germany and Namibia agree to bolster hydrogen partnership

German Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and Namibia’s Energy Minister Tom Alweendo have agreed to deepen the two countries’ existing hydrogen partnership.

According to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK), the ministers signed an agreement to support the Green Hydrogen Namibia Program, the new Namibian organization for green hydrogen, in, among other things, establishing local hydrogen value chains that benefit the local population, in developing a national strategy for green industrialization and in carrying out environmental impact assessments for green hydrogen projects in Namibia.

Furthermore, BMWK revealed it is planning a bilateral administrative partnership with Namibia, with the aim to set technical standards for green hydrogen or to provide advice on laws and standards and to train specialists. At the same time, the collaboration aims to support the German government’s National Hydrogen Strategy and advance international legal requirements for the safe use of green hydrogen, BWK added.

Robert Habeck said: “Namibia has ideal conditions for producing cheap and climate-friendly green hydrogen with the help of wind and solar energy. This opens up completely new economic perspectives for the African country and contributes to the development of an international hydrogen market. We want to make a contribution to this and accelerate the expansion of the green hydrogen economy in Namibia.”

The German government also presented a letter of intent (LoI) to German ENERTRAG, confirming the suitability of the Hyphen project in Namibia to be considered for final approval to be designated as a “strategic foreign project.”

Tobias Bischof-Niemz, designated board member for International Projects & Technology at ENERTRAG, commented: “The Hyphen project not only contributes to the energy transition, but is also an important testimony to international cooperation in the field of building new energy-trade-partnerships on the basis of 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.”

To note, Hyphen is a joint venture between Nicholas Holdings Limited and ENERTRAG. It was appointed the preferred bidder by the Namibian government to develop this first green hydrogen project in Namibia.

At full-scale development, anticipated before the end of this decade, the project is expected to produce two million tons of green ammonia annually, as well as 350,000 tons of green hydrogen.

It is estimated that the project will create up to 15,000 new jobs during the construction phase and 3,000 permanent jobs during its operation, with a target for around 90% of these jobs to be filled by Namibians. Hyphen previously noted it is targeting 30% local procurement for goods, services and materials throughout both the construction and operational phases.