ENERTRAG as shareholder congratulates HYPHEN consortium on appointment as preferred bidder for gigawatt hydrogen project in Namibia

Dauerthal/Windhoek, 18.11.2021 | Last week, the Namibian government announced HYPHEN Hydrogen Energy as the preferred bidder for the implementation of a green hydrogen production project in the Tsau Khaeb National Park. The US$9.4 billion project is expected to produce 300,000 tons of green hydrogen or its derivatives, such as green ammonia, annually for regional and global markets.

“As part of the HYPHEN consortium, we congratulate the project team on this extraordinary success,” said Dr. Gunar Hering, ENERTRAG board member. “We look forward to working with the Government of Namibia and bringing our extensive expertise across the hydrogen value chain to bear on the first gigawatt-scale project in Southern Africa.”

The Namibian Government’s announcement followed a tender process. Following a feasibility study and final approval under all legal procedures, HYPHEN will be granted the right to implement the vertically integrated project and operate it for a period of 40 years.

In the first phase of the project, the renewable energy plants with a capacity of 2 gigawatts and the corresponding plants for seawater desalination, for the production of green hydrogen as well as green ammonia will be developed and an export-oriented port facility will be built. The first stage of the project has an investment of $4.4 billion and is expected to be operational in 2026. By the end of this decade, a renewable generation capacity consisting of wind and PV plants with 5 gigawatts and 3 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity will be built. This results in a total investment of 9.4 billion US dollars.

The Tsau Khaeb National Park is one of the world’s best locations for the cost-effective production of hydrogen due to ideal conditions for wind power and photovoltaics. In addition, the region benefits from its proximity to the coast and can become a regional energy hub through the Southern Corridor Initiative land export routes. The visionary, investment-friendly government under President Hage Geingob also makes Namibia an ideal location. This is one of the reasons why the country already occupies a leading position in efforts to produce hydrogen from renewable energies.

“It is particularly important to the consortium that the sustainability concept is not limited to the form of generation: the project will create almost 15,000 direct jobs during the deployment phases, which will last a total of four years, and will make a significant contribution to the regional economy,” said Dr. Tobias Bischof-Niemz, Division Manager New Energy Solutions at ENERTRAG and Director of HYPHEN Hydrogen Energy Ltd. “During the operational phase, 3,000 permanent jobs will also be created, 90% of which are expected to be filled by local workers.”

In addition, Namibia will benefit from concession and licence fees as well as a contribution to be made to the state fund and an environmental levy.

The project is positioned in the context of the H2Global programme, which is being driven forward by the German government, and is part of ENERTRAG’s successful hydrogen strategy. More than ten years ago, the company started to build up a business field for the production of green hydrogen. Since then, extensive experience has been gained in the development, construction and operation of plants for the production of hydrogen from renewable energies. In the meantime, ENERTRAG is developing and operating a large number of hydrogen projects both in Germany and worldwide.

In Brandenburg, an important step towards climate-neutral rail transport will be taken in 2024 on the route of the “Heidekrautbahn” using green hydrogen and connecting the Brandenburg hinterland with the metropolis of Berlin. As part of the project funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, ENERTRAG will build a hydrogen plant and produce regionally generated green hydrogen for six hydrogen fuel cell trains.

With the Lausitz reference power plant (RefLau), ENERTRAG will produce green hydrogen for use in the transport, industry and heating sectors from 2024. The project, which is being implemented jointly with the Zweckverband Industriepark Schwarze Pumpe, Energiequelle GmbH and the University of Rostock, is the winner of the ideas competition “Reallabore der Energiewende” (Real Laboratories of the Energy Turnaround) run by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and is also intended to test the reconversion of green hydrogen into electricity.

Together with various partners, ENERTRAG is involved in three of a total of 62 large-scale hydrogen projects selected as IPCEI[1] projects by the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Ministry of Transport. With an electrolysis capacity of 210 MW, the ENERTRAG projects will play an important role in the implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy.

ENERTRAG is also one of the 15 founding members of the H2Global Foundation, which aims to promote the international market ramp-up of green hydrogen. In South Africa, ENERTRAG is planning to produce sustainable aviation fuel (eKerosene) from carbon-containing waste and green hydrogen in a consortium with Linde and Navitas together with Sasol.

ENERTRAG is therefore in an excellent position to make a significant contribution to the success of the energy transition, not only in the electricity sector, but also in related sectors.

[1] Important Projects of Common European Interest // Important Projects of Common European Interest