Written by: Absalom Shigweda
The German embassy in Namibia says efforts to produce green hydrogen in Namibia are aimed at bringing about economic prosperity in the country.
Deputy head of mission Andreas Gotze says Germany is highly interested in investing in Namibia’s green hydrogen sector.
He said this interest is cemented by good and long-standing relations that exist between the two countries.
Gotze was speaking at a one-day meeting on developing commercial size green hydrogen projects in Namibia, held in Windhoek last week.
While these efforts are still at the beginning phase, he said they are good steps in a good direction and aimed to contribute to socio-economic development in Namibia.
“It should be for the benefit of the population, to address inequality and unemployment, which are still a problem in the country.
Green hydrogen is high on the agenda between the two countries, although we have a painful colonial past. There is no country in Europe which has so many cooperation agreements with Namibia than Germany,” said Gotze.
He added that a number of German political foundations and educational centres such as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Goethe-Institut are also represented in Namibia.
The meeting was organised by the Southern Africa-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Speaking at the same event, senior consultant for Energy Investment Analysis at the Namibia Investment Promotion Development Board Hafeni Motsi said Namibia wants to be a sustainable energy hub in Africa, through the production of oil and gas, renewable energy, green hydrogen and carbon credits.
These sectors are key players in terms of realisation, but good legislation and policies are also required, said Motsi.
Namibia has already implemented related policies and legislation such as the National Energy Policy of 2017, Renewable Energy Policy of 2017 and the Green Hydrogen and Derivatives Policy of 2022.
He said Namibia is a hotspot for the production of green hydrogen as it has a large coastline and an abundance of land.
Nicolas Commeignes from the German Energy Solutions Initiatives (which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action), said the initiative builds partnerships with German small and medium enterprises and international partners who want to invest in sustainable and clean energy.
He said next year, they will have a fact-finding mission to Namibia and South Africa.
Namibia is setting up a large green hydrogen production project in the southern part of the country and has been described by experts as one of the top five locations in the world for the production of low carbon hydrogen.
To produce hydrogen, one uses electrical energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which eventually allows one to produce chemical energy without carbon emissions.
Green hydrogen can be exported to other countries, including African countries, to be used to produce clean energy.
