Namibia’s green hydrogen deliverables questioned
EU study identifies risks in programme
A case study of Namibia's green hydrogen casts doubt on the country's ability to deliver hydrogen on budget.
Namibia’s ability to produce green hydrogen at affordable levels and at the envisaged quantities has been cast into doubt owing to the intended scale of envisaged projects being earmarked by government. The risk factors are contained within a country report on Namibia and detail limiting factors that may hamper its green hydrogen ambitions.
The report, authored by AfricaMaval and German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources BGR!, also highlights Namibia's low workforce as a limiting factor in delivering on the projects anticipated.
Namibia’s green hydrogen strategy targets production of 10 to 12 million tonnes per annum of hydrogen equivalent, while annual targeted production of hydrogen has been set at 300 000 tonnes per year.
The report noted that a project of the magnitude and scale envisioned, had not yet been carried out. It also noted that Namibia faces the risk of potential inconsistent power availability.
“Industrial production in such a scale as envisaged, has never been done before and although the process should be scalable, it is not clear whether the production of wind energy during the nights is sufficient to compensate for the solar energy, which cannot be produced during the night. This could probably lead to higher than expected costs and lower than expected production,” the report noted.
Labour
Despite registering positive population growth since Independence, the report also found that Namibia did not have the required workforce to carry a project of this magnitude.
“A main risk may be to hire the estimated 3 000 people, who will work in the facility, due to the limited workforce in Namibia with its below three million inhabitants,” the report said.
Namibia and the European Union (EU) in 2022 provisionally agreed on a deal with the bloc to sell its rare earth minerals, critical to the renewable energy sectors.
The partnership aims to ensure the development of a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials, refined materials and renewable hydrogen to support the green and digital transformation of Namibia and the EU.