By:Justicia Shipena
A seven-month project by the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia (EIF) will support a feasibility study on the three valleys of the Green Hydrogen Strategy, among others.
The EIF on Tuesday announced it has successfully secured funds for the project titled, ‘Green, Resilient Recovery Rapid Readiness Support in Namibia’.
The secured funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is valued at U$300,000 (N$5.4 million) and EIF says the funds were secured on 31 December 2021.
The GCF is a fund established within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as an operating entity of the financial mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
At the Africa Energy Indaba 2023 summit in Cape Town, South Africa,last month, Namibia said it expects to sign the implementation agreement for the envisioned U$10 billion green hydrogen project in the second quarter of 2023 and commence feasibility studies.
“The readiness and preparatory support project objective is therefore to support the feasibility study on the three green valleys as identified in the green hydrogen strategy,” said Lot Ndamanomhata, EIF Manager for Corporate Communications.
Ndamanomhata said the readiness and preparatory support programme has five main activities which include strengthening the National Designed Authority and focal partners, developing strategic frameworks, preparing entities for accreditation, developing pipelines, and sharing information and experiences.
Namibia aspires to create an at-scale green fuels industry with a production target of 10- 12 Mtpa hydrogen equivalent by year 2050.
To this end, Namibia will develop three hydrogen valleys in the southern region of Kharas, the central region including Walvis Bay port and the northern region of Kunene.
In addition, the country also aspires to establish an integrated, thriving green ecosystem across Southern Africa by creating synergies in shared infrastructure, manufacturing collaboration and power exports.
According to the Green Hydrogen Strategy launched last year, Namibia is rightly positioned to partake in reducing the anticipated global hydrogen demand-supply gap and lower the cost of the net-zero transition.
Net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible.
Following Cop26 in 2021, countries, Namibia included, were asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reduction targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century.
“Its natural endowments that Namibia enjoys gives Namibians a comparable advantage and enables the country to make tremendous contributions to the global transition to net-zero while addressing its socio-economic inequalities,” Ndamanomhata explained.
According to EIF, to date Namibia has received six readiness supported projects.