The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF) has invited interest from consultants by 21 February for two contracts under the country’s green hydrogen programme.

The first expression of interest (EoI) concerns a strategic environmental and social assessment (SESA) for green energy production, industrialisation and common user infrastructure (CUI) in the Central Green Hydrogen Valley. The valley encompasses the Erongo, Khomas and Otjozondjupa regions, and includes Walvis Bay port and the capital Windhoek.

The second EoI aims to shortlist consultants that can identify, evaluate and recommend suitable sites for the development of a meteorological mast (met mast) in the Tsau Khaeb National (Sperrgebiet) Park (TKNP) area. The objective of the wind measuring campaign is to collect accurate, detailed wind data over 12-24 months, which will be used to inform future requests for proposals (RFP) for the development of green hydrogen projects in the TKNP. The EoI can be viewed here.

The proposed contract commencement date for both EoIs is 1 May.

According to the CUI EoI, given the multitude of green hydrogen projects in Namibia’s Central Green Hydrogen Valley, the Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme (NGH2P) is seeking to facilitate the development of common infrastructure to avoid costly duplication of infrastructure, both from a financial and environmental perspective.

The CUI could include a portfolio of complementary projects and infrastructure that maximises the opportunity presented by green hydrogen, its derivatives and green industrialisation projects, such as:
• Green hydrogen and ammonia pipelines
• Water transport and distribution pipelines
• Transmission and distribution lines
• Desalination plants
• Access roads
• Rail infrastructure
• Port infrastructure
• Storage infrastructure

The infrastructure is expected to be completed by 2039. 

The plan for developing the Central Valley entails launching several early demonstration projects and investing in infrastructure, with the aim of creating a hub for the production of synthetic fuels. Wind power potential in the valley is noted to be limited and therefore hydrogen production will only be able to reach scale after 2035, when the costs for solar and electrolyser production are expected to be lower. By 2050, hydrogen production in the valley could be 3 million tonnes a year (t/y).

In the long term, an integrated ecosystem is planned to facilitate the supply of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to the synthetic fuel production hub, as well as to provide manufactured components for renewable energy system/hydrogen facility construction sites.

As costs decrease over time, direct air capture facilities will be established to scale up the supply of climate-neutral carbon dioxide. Additionally, standardised torrefied biomass pellets can be produced, gasified and used as feedstock for synthetic fuel production in the Central Valley, where biomass is abundant.

The EoI for the SESA study can be viewed here. 

The projects being developed in the Central Green Hydrogen Valley include the Cleanergy Solutions hydrogen refuelling station with onsite green hydrogen production in Walvis Bay, work on which began in late September 2024.

The facility is expected to begin production of 200 t/y of green ammonia this year, along with the start of work on the second and third phases. By 2028, the plant is aimed to produce 220,000 t/y of green ammonia. Cleanergy Solutions Namibia is a joint venture of the local Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group and Belgium’s CMB.TECH.

Another scheme is the agriculture-focused Daures Green Hydrogen Village, which aims to establish a production facility for green hydrogen, nitrogen and ammonia, leveraging sustainable energy sources. The pilot project has been completed and will produce 18 tonnes of green hydrogen and 100 tonnes of green ammonia once it is launched in the first quarter of 2025.

The company is now preparing to commence design studies for the development of a hybrid 5.5GW renewables facility and a 2.5GW electrolyser producing in excess of 180,000 t/y of hydrogen and 1 million t/y of green ammonia on about 15,000 hectares of land.

Meanwhile, French independent power producer HDF Energy is developing a green hydrogen project situated in Swakopmund along the coast within the Erongo region. The project, valued at US$181.3 million, integrates an 85MW solar photovoltaic system with an electrolysis unit and is anticipated to commence construction in 2025-27. By 2028, the facility is set to produce 142GWh a year of green baseload power.

The Oshivela green iron plant scheme is also underway by HyIron, a Namibian-German joint venture, and aims to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy, which will then be utilised to reduce iron ore and produce direct reduced iron (DRI). The iron will then be shipped to steel producers, reducing the carbon footprint of the global steelmaking process.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the HyIron plant was held in early November 2024 and the first phase is set to produce 15,000 t/y of DRI. Work on phases 2 and 3 is expected to commence in 2025, with the facility aimed to produce a total of 2 million t/y of DRI by 2028.

According to the CUI EoI, the HyIron project may require a dedicated railway siding for iron ore inputs and export of DRI pellets. The SESA is planned to study the minimisation of the environmental footprint of this CUI.

Another proposed scheme in the Central Green Hydrogen Valley is a green hydrogen/ammonia production plant by Amsterdam-based energy developer Zhero in joint venture with China’s Envision Energy. Construction is set to commence in 2025 and be completed in 2028, with 500,000 t/y of green ammonia to be manufactured from 2029.

Top photo: Cleanergy Solutions plant (Source: Namibia Green Hydrogen Programme)