Page 11 - DMEA Week 46 2021

DMEA FUELS DMEA

Hyphen Hydrogen to develop

Namibian green mega-project

AFRICA NAMIBIAN-BASED hydrogen start-up “The Tsau /Khaeb national park is among the
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy will develop the first top 5 locations in the world for low-cost hydro-
green mega-project in Namibia. The Namibian gen production, benefiting from a combination
government named Hyphen Hydrogen Energy of co-located onshore wind and solar resources
as the preferred bidder this week to develop the near the sea and land export routes to market,”
country’s first large-scale green hydrogen pro- said Raffinetti.
duction project. “Namibia’s world-class natural resources,
The company will invest up to $9.4bn over combined with a progressive, pro-investment
the next nine years to develop the country’s first and visionary government under the leader-
large-scale, vertically integrated green hydrogen ship of President Hage Geingob, has enabled the
project in the Tsau//Khaeb national park. country to move with incredible speed to posi-
German-based renewable energy company tion itself at the leading edge of Africa’s ambi-
ENERTRAG is a shareholder in Hyphen Hydro- tions to enter the green hydrogen production
gen Energy. space,” he said
The project is set to produce 300,000 tonnes Hyphen director Dr Tobias Bischof-Niemz
per year (tpy) of green hydrogen for regional and said the consortium comprised shareholders
global markets, either as pure green hydrogen or and technical partners that were world leaders
in derivative form, e.g. green ammonia. in their respective fields.
The announcement followed a competitive “This collective deep technical expertise
tender process. across the entire green hydrogen value chain,
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has won the right combined with our financial strength and expe-
to construct and operate the project for a 40-year rience in developing, fundraising and imple-
period following the conclusion of the feasibility menting infrastructure projects in Africa, will
study and sign-off from the government. be crucial in successfully delivering a project of
“The first phase, which is expected to enter this magnitude and complexity,” he said.
production in 2026, will see the creation of 2 “This is exactly the type of investment the
GW of renewable electricity generation capac- board aims to attract, as it is directly aligned to
ity to produce green hydrogen for conversion our mandate of unlocking investment opportu-
into green ammonia, at an estimated capital nities that drive the economy forward, and most
cost of $4.4bn. Further expansion phases in importantly, improve the quality of life for all
the late 2020s will expand combined renewable Namibians.”
generation capacity to 5 GW and 3 GW of elec- Nangula Uaandja, CEO of the Namibian
trolyser capacity, increasing the combined total Investment Promotion and Development Board,
investment to $9.4bn,” said Hyphen CEO Marco said the project was a milestone project that will
Raffinetti. enable the country to create on average 15,000
Once fully developed, the project will pro- direct jobs over the four years of combined
vide a major boost to Namibia in terms of for- construction and 3,000 permanent direct jobs
eign direct investment (FDI) and job creation. over the 40-year operational period, while con-
The $9.4bn investment is of the same order of tributing to other efforts to stimulate economic
magnitude as the country’s current GDP. recovery.
In addition to taxes, HYPHEN will pay con- “We look forward to welcoming Hyphen as
cession fees, royalties, a sovereign wealth fund an investor in Namibia and reiterate the board’s
contribution and an environmental levy to the commitment to creating a conducive environ-
government. ment for investment.”™

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