‘Hyphen hydrogen not so green’
Environmental watchdog sounds alarm
New green hydrogen development projects in national parks in Namibia have little potential for broad-based economic development, as all business agreements are directly between the government and private sector, the Namibian Chamber of Environment (NCE) has warned.Issuing a position paper focussing specifically on the Tsau //Khaeb National Park (TKNP), the NCE said the associated economic opportunities in the country will be limited to companies that win tenders for construction and other work, while their activities in the park will not be open for public scrutiny.
“These conditions create multiple opportunities for corruption and elite capture of economic benefits,” according to the NCE.
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has been awarded preferred bidder status on about 4 000 km² of land within the Tsau //Khaeb National Park for the development of Namibia’s first fully vertically integrated gigawatt-scale green hydrogen project. The estimated cost of the project, in which the Namibian government has a 24% stake, is US$10 billion or around N$180 billion.
Environmental assessment
The NCE’s position paper - released recently on International Day for Biodiversity under the title, “When Green Hydrogen Turns Red” - lobbies for a full strategic environmental assessment (SEA).
Such an assessment must be conducted transparently and reviewed by independent experts for the long-term hydrogen development plans prior to environmental and social impact assessments (ESIAs) for the Hyphen project, the NCE urged.
Alternative sites for producing hydrogen that support the local economy and have the potential to drive national manufacturing industries must be carefully considered within the SEA, the Chamber said.
“Namibia’s energy and sustainable development needs can be met using a strategic approach that considers the full societal and ecological costs and benefits of each form of energy production. These options must be carefully studied and compared to ensure that Namibia develops a truly sustainable energy sector that minimises costs to its biodiversity and maximises benefits for its people,” the NCE advocates.
Hotspot
“The proposed hydrogen development in the Tsau //Khaeb National Park poses a severe threat to one of only a few global biodiversity hotspots in an arid area, and one of the largest near-pristine wildernesses on earth,” the NCE said.
“The biological diversity and ecological sensitivity of the TKNP should raise red flags about any large-scale industrial development in this area,” it added.
The Chamber said it supports the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its stands against any plan to mitigate climate change that comes at an unacceptable cost to biodiversity.
“Any hydrogen produced in the TKNP is correctly labelled as ‘red’ hydrogen, since its production is likely to increase the threats to many species of plants and animals on the IUCN Red List, as well as other endemic and lesser-known species that have yet to be evaluated,” the NCE said.
(‘Red’ hydrogen in this context should not be confused with red or pink hydrogen, which is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy.)
Biodiversity value
The TKNP, formerly the Sperrgebiet, is arguably one of the most important arid protected areas in the world, and Namibia’s most biodiverse protected area, the NCE pointed out. “Its biodiversity value is unmatched and irreplaceable at the global level.”
It hosts 90% of Namibia’s portion of the hyper-diverse Succulent Karoo Biome, which is one of 36 recognised global biodiversity hotspots and one of the few in arid areas.
Due to its history as a 'forbidden zone' in the Sperrgebiet to ensure security around diamond mines, over 70% of the 21 800 km² TKNP is a near-pristine wilderness.
Among others, the TKNP boast the following:
It hosts nearly 25% of Namibia’s plant species on only 3% of its surface area, with 31 of its 1 050 plant species occurring nowhere else on earth.
The TKNP is an important bird area, providing critical habitat to 251 terrestrial bird species, including one endemic species, 15 terrestrial and coastal threatened species, as well as 10 near threatened species.
It hosts a minimum of 100 reptile species, 16 amphibian species, and a currently unknown (but likely exceptionally high) diversity of insects and other invertebrates.
According to the NCE, this sensitive desert ecosystem is extremely difficult to rehabilitate.
Plant translocation has a high failure rate, making strategies to mitigate development actions expensive and largely ineffective.
“Consequently, even with stringent environmental management plans in place, the Hyphen project and others that follow it will cause irreversible damage to this ecosystem that cannot be offset by protecting biodiversity elsewhere,” the NCE said.
Tourism
“Besides the biodiversity loss caused by these developments, tourism will no longer be an attractive option for investors, as most of the zoned ‘wilderness area’ will be covered by wind turbines, solar panels, powerlines and associated roads,” the Chamber cautioned.
The Hyphen project area overlaps with several tourism development areas, while the long-term hydrogen development plans will clash with all of these areas, it added.
The state-owned German Development Bank (KfW) has financially supported the development of the TKNP management plan as part of its larger support programme for Namibian national parks.
However, the German government recently presented a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Enertrag SE, one of the shareholders in the Hyphen, confirming the suitability of its project in Namibia to be considered for final approval to be designated as a “strategic foreign project”.
KfW’s investment will be “virtually annulled” by hydrogen development in the TKNP, the NCE said. The German government is “actively undercutting its own previous investment in the conservation and tourism development of TKNP”, the Chamber added.
Risk
Hydrogen is extremely expensive, explosive, prone to leakage and difficult to transport or store, according to the NCE.
As such, global interest in using hydrogen as a fuel has waned, turning instead to derivatives of hydrogen and other chemical elements, such as ammonia or kerosene.
Assuming that the German market will continue to have an appetite for expensive hydrogen to address its energy shortfalls in the future is risky, the NCE said.
Should Germany decide to reinvest in nuclear energy or if cheaper methods of producing green ammonia and kerosene are developed that do not require initial hydrogen production, or if the current work on fusion energy by the USA results in commercially viable energy sources, Namibia’s market for hydrogen will shrink, and its profitability will collapse, the NCE said.
The Chamber argued that hydrogen projects in almost any other part of Namibia would incur lower biodiversity costs.
“Projects that focus on developing Namibian industries utilising hydrogen or its derivatives could significantly contribute to local economic development.
“Hydrogen projects following this local development model are already operational near Walvis Bay, on a part of the Namibian coastline that is far less biologically sensitive than the TKNP.
Long-term, local sustainable development like this should be encouraged and welcomed, rather than high-risk, export-focused projects that could falter if global markets shift or new technologies surpass hydrogen as a primary energy source,” the NCE said.
Alternatives
“Development projects in the energy sector should aim to have broad-based economic impacts, providing increased access to cheaper energy for households and opportunities for communities to share in the profits of these enterprises,” according to the NCE.
The Chamber cites //Kharas as an example, saying that many inland parts of the region - the same region as the TKNP and Hyphen’s proposed project - are suitable for solar farms. “Extended droughts and degraded rangelands have severely diminished livestock production potential in this area, affecting some of Namibia’s poorest and most marginalised communities.
“These communities experience multi-dimensional poverty and would directly benefit from the construction of solar farms on their land, in exchange for a share in the sale of energy to the national grid and access to electricity for their own households,” the NCE said.
The Chamber continued: “If developed prudently, Namibia’s energy sector holds significant potential to alleviate poverty and reduce the country’s dependence on imported electricity. Namibia could also leverage its position to export renewable energy to the regional grid, thereby playing a crucial role in decarbonising the energy sector in the SADC region.”
‘Premature’
Namibia’s green hydrogen commissioner, James Mnyupe, reacted to the NCE report, saying it was premature to single out the potential impact of any specific project before the strategic environmental and social assessment (SESA) and ESIAs have been conducted on biodiversity, ecosystems and socio-economic development in the Southern Corridor Development Initiative (SCDI).
SESAs and ESIAs are presented to the environmental commissioner for review before permission to develop is granted for any project, Mnyupe said.
Government is prioritising the expedited delivery of a SESA for the SCDI or the broader Tsau //Khaeb area, he added.