HyIron says its expects to begin testing and commissioning by the end of the year.
This comes as HyIron’s Oshivela green iron production plant has received the latest shipments of heavy machinery through the Port of Walvis Bay.
Among the equipment delivered were two tanks, each weighing 26 tonnes, shipped from China aboard the vessel Win V.CAF702 and a rotary decomposition furnace and four auxiliary crates weighing 92.6 tonnes each were shipped from Germany on the Bright Sky vessel.
“We are now busy finalising the power installation (connecting up the substation area and laying feeder cables to various load points). On the furnace, we are well underway with installations, and expecting additional attachments to come in around 10 November with the aim to finish all installations by the end of the year,” HyIron’s project engineer, Kelvine Amukwaya.
He further explained that the plant is also awaiting the arrival of electrolyser stacks which will produce hydrogen gas by month-end, after which plumbing work would commence within the next week.
“On the Electrolyser (hydrogen gas production facilities), we are just waiting for the electrolyser stacks to come in by the end of the month and further commencing with the plumbing works over the next week or so,” Amukwaya said.
The plant is expected to commence with green iron production by early 2025. In its first phase, the plant will produce five tonnes of green iron per hour, relying entirely on a 25MW solar plant and 13.4MW of battery storage to operate only during the day.
The goal for phase one is to produce 15,000 tonnes of green iron annually, offsetting 27,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
The first phase of the N$573 million (€30 million) project, which began construction in 2023, is funded to the tune of N$248 million (€13 million) (45%) by the German government (BMWK), through a grant, and 55% by private equity.
The second phase, planned for 2026, will increase capacity tenfold, utilising 250MW of solar power and 150MW of battery storage, enabling round-the-clock operations. This expansion will push production to 200,000 tonnes of green iron per year.
