Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen), Windhoek, Namibia, on Feb. 2 announced the signing of nonbinding Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with two major industrial companies with the aim of Hyphen providing them with up to 750,000 mt/y of green ammonia.
The agreements with an unidentified major chemical company and Approtium, a South Korean hydrogen producer, are targeting offtake of up to 500,000 mt and 250,000 mt a year, respectively.
The agreements follow Hyphen’s recently signed MOU with RWE Supply and Trading (RWEST), the German multinational utility company, for supply of up to 300,000 mt/y of green ammonia from 2027 (GM Dec. 9, 2022). Hyphen has now concluded MOUs for volumes exceeding 1 million mt/y of ammonia.
Hyphen, a Namibian registered, green hydrogen development company, is targeting annual production of 1 million mt of green ammonia by 2027. The company plans to increase annual production to 2 million mt of green ammonia by 2029 for export to international markets, in addition to its commitments to supply and decarbonize energy domestically within Namibia and the southern Africa region.
“The conclusion of these agreements with leading players in the energy and industrial sectors marks another exciting step in Hyphen’s journey to export green hydrogen globally,” said Marco Raffinetti, Hyphen CEO. “Although Hyphen’s primary focus is the supply of hydrogen into Europe, and Germany in particular, South Korea is expected to emerge as a key market in the green hydrogen sector, in which Approtium will be a major player. These partnerships with offtakers from various geographical regions firmly cement Namibia’s position as a key emerging player in the global green hydrogen industry.”
Hyphen was specifically designed to develop green hydrogen projects in Namibia for international, regional, and domestic supply, and is eyeing a US$10 billion complex. Hyphen comprises two shareholder groups – ENERTRAG SE, the international renewable energy company, and Nicholas Holding Ltd., an investment and project development company.
Hyphen successfully bid on and has been awarded preferred bidder status on approximately 4,000 square kilometers of land within the Tsau/Khaeb National Park for the development of Namibia’s first fully vertically integrated GW scale green hydrogen project. This project is planned to be developed in phases, at full development targeting 300,000 mt/y of green hydrogen production a year from 5-6GW of renewable generation capacity and a 3GW electrolyzer.
The project, which will be located near the town of Luederitz, will use solar and wind power for the production of green hydrogen, which would then be turned into ammonia. The players see Namibia’s Skeleton Coast on the Atlantic Ocean as ideal for green hydrogen production due to an abundance of sun and wind.
The project, once fully developed, will employ an estimated 3,000 people, with 15,000 construction jobs supported over the four-year construction period, over 90% of which are expected to be filled by Namibians.
Approtium (formerly named Deokyang) is the largest independent hydrogen provider in Korea and was established 60 years ago in the Ulsan. It was wholly acquired by Macquarie in December 2021. Since the transition of ownership, it has made significant investments to the facilities, to process management, and to its people to improve its ability to provide hydrogen and liquid CO2 to its clients in the Korean market.