President Nangolo Mumba has announced that Namibia and South Africa are set to collaborate on a groundbreaking initiative to develop Africa’s first-ever green hydrogen pipeline.
He said this at the World Hydrogen Forum in the Netherlands, where Namibia’s Green Hydrogen Program will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with key stakeholders.
According to Mumba, the partnership includes the Western Cape Development Agency (Wesgro) and the Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (NCEDA) from South Africa, along with Gasunie, a leading Dutch hydrogen infrastructure developer.
“This partnership aims to study the feasibility of building Africa’s first cross-country green hydrogen pipeline, connecting Namibia and South Africa and facilitating significant trade of a new product between our two countries,” he said.
The MoU comes after South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa proposed a possible hydrogen partnership with Namibia in October 2020, as the neighbouring country planned to become a major exporter of green hydrogen, through the implementation of the Boegoebaai hydrogen power project.
South Africa last year unveiled a N$300-billion (US$20 billion) investment pipeline under a Green Hydrogen National Programme, which has been designated as a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) for accelerated development under the country’s Infrastructure Development Act.
The country reportedly has the potential to produce up to 13 million tonnes of green hydrogen and derivatives a year by 2050 but to do so would require between 140GW and 300GW of renewable energy, which would represent a massive scale-up in a context where South Africa had procured only about 7GW of wind and solar since 2011.
Among some of the envisioned projects is the development of a 2,500-km cross-border pipeline from Luderitz to Saldanha, a project which the Namibian Green Hydrogen Commissioner, James Mnyupe estimates will cost N$352.6 billion (€20 billion).
Mbumba further explained that Namibia currently hosts nine hydrogen projects across two developing hydrogen valleys, with the potential for a third anchored by its iron ore.
He also revealed the country’s plans to become a logistics hub for the Southern African region through the development of an ammonia bunkering hub and a green hydrogen-powered train.
These initiatives aim to decarbonize shipping and long-haul logistics routes, ensuring goods transported via Namibia’s ports minimize both scope 2 and scope 3 emissions.
