Namibia’s charge to becoming a world leader in the production of green hydrogen is being hamstrung by peripheral obstacles, like bureaucratic red tape, to be enacted legislation, land disputes and clashes with environmental lobby groups.
Despite being introduced as a potential world leader in green hydrogen production, the hype about Namibia’s potential has hit a snag. The delay is not so much brought about by the opposition from quarters of the country’s political establishment, but by the slow pace at which the government implements or facilitates development.
A lack of transparency in the government’s decision making around green hydrogen has also been a major public concern resulting in suspicions of sinister deals behind the scenes.
These stumbling blocks don’t appear to be a deterrent with the rush for Namibia’s new El Dorado still on. The country initially approved four pilot projects to be funded with the support of the Namibian and German governments and the EU. This number has grown to eight, with three more players expected to lay their claim. The new players are private concerns raising their own funding.
Only one of the pilot projects, Hyrail, a subsidiary of the country’s rail parastatal TransNamib, decided to abandon its green hydrogen ambitions early in the pilot phase.
However, only one of the about eight pilot green hydrogen projects appears to be making progress but it too is far from starting production and also had to endure an embarrassment of international proportions.
It was late in April when Belgium’s King Philippe Léopold Louis Marie visited Namibia. One of his activities was to officiate the opening of a green hydrogen project with a fueling station by Cleanergy Solutions Namibia, a joint venture between Belgium’s CMB.TECH and Namibia’s Ohlthaver and List (O&L). Accompanied by Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba, they were pictured at a pump station fueling a green hydrogen powered truck.
Only for reports to emerge a few days later that the green hydrogen pumped into the truck at the harbour town of Walvis Bay was imported and not produced in Namibia. Interestingly, this is the project appearing most ready for production.
In the meantime, the country’s flagship project, Hyphen hydrogen energy, is facing multiple obstacles with getting the ball rolling nowhere in sight. Even the government’s stake in Hyphen does not seem to be incentive enough to remove the red tape.
The project is supposed to set up a site in the Sperrgebiet area, previously restricted and exclusively used for diamond mining. The area is also home to the Tsau/Khaeb national park, considered to be pristine and untampered with. Environmental lobby groups are hawkishly monitoring Hyphen’s every move and insist the project will harm the pristine ecology in the national park.
This area, situated south of Luderitz, is considered ideal because it is home to what is known as the wind corridor, which is ideal for wind power production, It is also located in the desert, making it suitable for setting up solar farms.
The problem with this location is the fact that it is situated in an area covered under the Sperrgebiet Diamond Mine’s (SDM’s) mining licence. SDM is the company responsible for managing the Elisabeth Bay diamond mine.
Hyphen CEO Marco Raffinetti denied any dispute with SDM, while media reports earlier in 2024 indicated that the government was on the verge of rescinding SDM’s mining licence should the company continue refusing Hyphen access to the land.
Raffinetti also confirmed that the process of obtaining an environmental clearance certificate to proceed with the project was only at pre-feasibility study stages. He said the company had appointed a consultant to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment in the coming months. The assessment is a prerequisite to obtaining an environmental clearance certificate, which, in turn, is required before the project is to begin.
There are also challenges including a lack of legislation regulating the handling and transportation of synthetic fuels in Namibia.
However, the country’s green-hydrogen commissioner, James Mnyupe, is optimistic that a draft law will soon be developed. He added that a national synthetic fuels policy was currently in draft form and that a consultative process started in August. Mnyupe expected the draft policy document to be presented to the cabinet for review soon. Only then will a draft law follow.
The EU and the German government committed to funding the pilot projects to make Namibia a leader in green hydrogen production for export to Europe. This was cemented by a memorandum of understanding between Namibia and the EU at the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) held in Egypt.
The agreement is believed to provide for the EU to support Namibia’s green hydrogen ambitions in exchange for access to strategic minerals such as lithium, which could support the green energy agenda. However, this is also not yielding results, especially with lithium mining and exporting in Namibia predominantly controlled by China-owned companies.
Meanwhile countries such as Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Mauritania and Egypt seem to be making considerable progress and look set to leapfrog Namibia. The fact that these countries are close to Europe, especially from a transportation perspective, could render Namibian hydrogen to Europe not viable.
This article was first published by BusinessDay