Green hydrogen is now being produced in Namibia for the first time, largely due to German investment. In the foothills of the Namib Desert near the town of Arandis, about 120 kilometers northeast of Walvis Bay, 44,000 solar panels harness the region’s abundant sunshine to power the country’s contribution to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
Johannes Michels, managing director of Hylron, explained that the Oshivela project, which began producing green hydrogen in late March, will make Namibia “the first country in the world to produce iron industrially without CO2 emissions.” The solar field supplies up to 25 megawatts of electricity to power electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen used as a reducing agent in the iron production process.
Germany plays a significant role in this development, with Rainer Baake, the German government’s special representative for Namibian-German hydrogen relations, noting the need to decarbonize Germany’s steel industry. Hylron is largely financed by German investors, with €13 million from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Initially producing 15,000 tons of emission-free iron annually, Hylron plans to expand to 200,000 tons and eventually 2 million tons by 2030, potentially increasing permanent jobs from 50 to 1,600.
Source: amibian.com.na
