Staff Reporter
A FEASIBILITY study to build Africa’s first cross-country green hydrogen pipeline, connecting Namibia and South Africa, will soon be conducted.
This was revealed by President Nangolo Mbumba at the 2024 World Hydrogen Summit, taking place in Rotterdam, the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The president announced that the feasibility study will result from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Namibia will sign with the Western Cape Development Agency (Wesgro), the Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (NCEDA), and Gasunie, the Netherlands’ leading hydrogen backbone developer.
President Mbumba revealed that the goal of the MoU is to conduct a feasibility study to determine the practicality and potential benefits of constructing a pipeline to transport green hydrogen between Namibia and South Africa.
The president further emphasised that green hydrogen promises to strengthen relations at both regional and international levels. Regarding regional relations, he expressed his hopes that the country’s green hydrogen-powered train and the ammonia bunkering hub currently under development in Walvis Bay will boost intra-African trade.
“Namibia has always harboured a desire to become an indispensable logistics hub for the Southern African region. To support this ambition, we are developing an ammonia bunkering hub and a green hydrogen-powered train to decarbonise shipping and long-haul logistics routes. This will ensure that goods and commodities transported via our port infrastructure minimise both scope 2 and scope 3 emissions,” said President Mbumba.
He added that the ammonia bunkering hub and the green hydrogen-powered train will not only increase the competitiveness of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz as harbours of choice for key exporters and importers but will also enhance the competitiveness of regional goods, augment the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and thereby boost intra-African trade in the process.
“Our newly developed green industrialisation blueprint further illustrates how green hydrogen can be used to add value to minerals sourced within our borders and the continent,” he added.
The president revealed that Namibia also plans to produce green direct reduced iron, a key low-carbon ingredient that promises to decarbonise the steel industry, which he said could contribute to more than 8% of global emissions.
