(Berlin) - The Director General of the Namibian Planning Commission, Obeth M. Kandjoze, and Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek have concluded a hydrogen partnership between Germany and Namibia. “There is already a global race for the best hydrogen technologies and the best locations for hydrogen production. In our view, Namibia has particularly great opportunities in this competition,” explained the minister. Your authority will provide up to 40 million euros in funding.
As part of the agreement, a feasibility study will first be carried out and then German-Namibian pilot projects as well as the training and further education of local specialists will be launched. “The feasibility study is intended to show the potential of a green hydrogen economy, including innovative seawater desalination, in Namibia as well as exports to Germany,” says Stefan Kaufmann, Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF). “Based on this, we want to test in pilot projects how green hydrogen can be produced and transported in Namibia.”
Obeth M. Kandjoze, also chairman of the Namibian Hydrogen Council, calls for action: “Namibia is particularly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. Two thirds of our electricity comes from hydropower, which depends on the rain and the rivers at Ruacana. 23 percent of our workforce depends on agriculture. Prolonged droughts such as those we have recently experienced are just a harbinger of catastrophic conditions for many of our fellow citizens.”
Seawater desalination is the focus
Namibia is the driest country in the sub-Saharan region. If we succeed in finding solutions for seawater desalination and hydrogen production, these could be transferred to other regions and thus lay a basis for the global development of the hydrogen economy. Seawater desalination is therefore the focus of German-Namibian cooperation. Previous analyzes have shown that desalination only has a very small impact on the costs of hydrogen. According to the calculations, they only account for around one percent of the production costs.
Namibia has “enormous potential for ramping up a green hydrogen economy”. The country has large, previously unused areas. The wind speeds in Namibia made it possible to generate particularly profitable wind power. The potential for solar power is even greater, with more than 3.500 hours of sunshine annually - almost twice as much as in Germany. It is assumed that a kilogram of hydrogen from Namibia “will ultimately cost between 1,50 and 2 euros”. The country has announced the publication of a hydrogen strategy for November and reportedly wants to export green hydrogen before 2025.
deep link
https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/pressemitteilungen/de/2021/08/250821-Namibia-Wasserstoff.html
Photos
Martin Andjaba, Ambassador of the Republic of Namibia, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek and the Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the BMBF, Stefan Kaufmann © BMBF/Hans-Joachim Rickel
