Africa-Press – Namibia. ECONOMISTS and renewable energy experts are skeptical about promises of job creation and electricity generation by the country’s envisaged green hydrogen project.
President Hage Geingob during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) announced the unlocking of over 5 700 square kilometres in the //Kharas region for the development of green hydrogen and ammonia asset projects.
His announcement was followed by the presidential economic adviser and hydrogen commissioner, James Mnyupe, saying: “The potential development of green hydrogen and ammonia assets is expected to double the region’s employment, and triple the installed renewable energy-generation capacity of the entire country.”
Mnyupe says the green hydrogen project aims to generate 5 gigawatts of renewable energy, while it would ultimately produce 300 000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year for regional and global markets.
‘DREAMY MEGAPROJECT’
Economist Rowland Brown calls the project a dreamy long-term megaproject, saying job creation is likely to be relatively low because of the highly specialised and capital-intensive industry green hydrogen production requires.
He says the long time frame for establishing this industry would not have a material impact on Namibia’s post-Covid-19 recovery for most Namibian households.
“Green hydrogen will not generate this bright world for most Namibians, and as such it should be a sideline to the real project – attracting and sustaining grassroots investment, employment and growth, and improved allocation of public resources, together contributing to improved household incomes and livelihoods.
“Additionally, the shortage of skills in Namibia, especially for such a niche industry, and difficulty in importing skills through onerous work permit requirements could pose a challenge,” Brown says.
He says while the project may be an exciting opportunity for Namibians over the medium to long term, there is a need for change in the country’s general investment policy.
Detlof von Oertzen recently released a research paper published by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, titled ‘Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities to Develop Green Hydrogen in Namibia’. He weighed in on the challenges presented by the project.
Von Oertzen in the paper said the absence of policy and regulatory frameworks would be a challenge to implement, as the country does not have specific policies or regulations guiding the development of hydrogen-related activities.
“Few investors would rely on word-of-mouth assurances and promises alone. Enhancing investment certainty necessitates pragmatic, low-barrier approaches to conducting business,” he said.
He said a project of such magnitude would require solid supporting peripheral infrastructure and reliable value-chain elements. SOLID INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED
“Without an established gas-transport infrastructure in Namibia and severely limited electricity transmission capabilities, such infrastructure would have to be newly built. Relating to export capacities, the Lüderitz harbour’s freight-handling capacities remain most limited, without relevant handling, storage, or piping infrastructure,” Von Oertzen said.
Energy specialist David Jarrett of RDJ Consulting says the government needs to prioritise stemming the unemployment and tax challenges it is currently faced with.
He says the green hydrogen project has the potential to create stimulus for Lüderitz and Oranjemund. “Ohorongo and B2Gold, for example, helped stimulate Otavi and Tsumeb. Husab and Rössing helped revive Arandis.
“Thus it is very possible for green hydrogen to help stimulate Lüderitz and Oranjemund. Already those areas have seen higher accommodation requests due to the flurry of activity by potential investors,” Jarrett says.
Another renewable energy expert, Harald Schütt, from Amusha Consultancy Services, says the project makes technical sense, but the infrastruce to produce hydrogen at the proposed scale is like “a small person jumping into a big ocean, thinking he will reach somewhere”.
“The grid cannot carry the capacity they are talking about, which is 10 times Namibia’s peak need. To set the project up in such a short time could lead to some foreigners setting something up here, doing the thing, and getting out. Namibians would be left with jobs such as being security guards or cleaning personnel,” he says.
The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board has set out an expression of interest, calling all Namibian companies and micro, small, and medium enterprises interested in potentially providing services and/or goods to the green hydrogen industry.
Calls made to Mnyupe, as well as the communications officials at the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board proved futile as they did not respond to questions sent to them yesterday.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
