We explore Namibia’s vision of a sprawling hydrogen ecosystem. The country plans to leverage its competitive wind and solar energy potential and strategic coastal location to produce electrolytic hydrogen and ammonia for the global market. We also highlight some of the key projects and partnerships already underway, and some key bottlenecks that must be overcome.
Meet Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, a renewable ammonia developer focused on production projects in Namibia. Hyphen’s current focus is a project featuring up to 2 million tons of ammonia each year near Port Lüderitz on Namibia’s southwest coast. Hyphen has already secured multiple offtake contracts, and will supply European customers using Chane’s Port of Rotterdam import infrastructure.
New industry partnerships between suppliers, offtakers and existing infrastructure owners will boost confidence for project developers in the fast-growing renewable ammonia industry. Recent announcements from Namibia, Germany and Norway demonstrate that a comprehensive ammonia supply chain is being established between Europe and key global locations, making FID & project investment decisions more straightforward.
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has signed off-take MoUs with a major chemical company and South Korean hydrogen producer Approtium bringing the total off-take for their Namibian mega-project to just over one million tonnes of renewable ammonia each year. Also in Namibia, Fortescue Future Industries will support the early stages of the new Daures Green Hydrogen Village project.
Air Products and Mabanaft will develop ammonia import & distribution infrastructure at Mabanaft’s existing tank terminal at the Port of Hamburg. From 2026, ammonia imports will be “converted” to hydrogen at Air Products facilities in Hamburg, then distributed to customers in northern Germany. Meanwhile, RWE and Hyphen have signed an offtake agreement, with 300,000 tonnes per year from Hyphen’s under-development mega-project in Namibia to be shipped to Germany. RWE is developing an ammonia import terminal in Brunsbüttel (just up the Elbe River from Hamburg), which will be ready to receive shipments from 2026.
HYPHEN Hydrogen Energy will develop the first green mega-project in Namibia. The $9.4 billion, 300,000 tonnes per year green hydrogen project will focus on providing green hydrogen & ammonia product to local and global markets. The project site will be located within the Tsau Khaeb national park: a coastal diamond mining area in the Namib desert with world-class onshore wind and solar resources. The site will also have close proximity to both key shipping routes around southern Africa, and key land transport corridors.