Namibia is gaining international attention as it pursues an environmentally friendly hydrogen energy initiative with the help of Germany.
The Namibian government has paid 40 million euros (about 53.7 billion won) with the German government to carry out the ‘Green Hydrogen Initiative,’ a large-scale hydrogen energy development project. The two countries were said to have inked a cooperative pact.
The green hydrogen project’s main goal is to produce hydrogen energy (green hydrogen) by decomposing water using solar and wind power. Investors from all over the globe, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are praising the fact that it is carbon-free and that Namibia has a beautiful environment.
Every year, Namibia receives more than 300 days of sunlight. Furthermore, the 1600km coastline area has numerous spots where the wind blows powerfully, therefore it is considered a topography suited for solar and wind power generation. It plans to begin exporting green hydrogen before 2025 and create 300,000 tons of the gas annually by 2030.
As a result, a green hydrogen manufacturing plant will be developed in the desert outside Lüderitz, Germany’s southern port city. The Luderitz City Council is pushing for water and sewage infrastructure as well as housing construction, anticipating a population growth of roughly 30,000 people. “After the diamond rush in 1900, we are now prepared for the green hydrogen rush,” a municipal council official stated. “I am happy that Germany is the first country to formally sign a hydrogen collaboration with Namibia,” Germany’s Minister of Education and Research, Anza Karlicek, stated.
The money for this initiative came from the two countries’ ‘past history discussions,’ which were completed in May. It will be paid for with 1.1 billion euros (about 1.47 trillion won) in development assistance that Germany has pledged to distribute over the next 30 years. In 1884, Germany annexed Namibia, which remained colonized until World War I. After then, it was controlled by South Africa until 1990, when it obtained independence. In 1904, German colonial authorities slaughtered tens of thousands of indigenous peoples who stood up against oppression. Negotiations between Germany and Namibia to address this historical issue lasted six years and were finally completed in May.
The cornerstone to the two nations’ agreement is that the German government apologizes and provides development assistance, but does not seek legal redress in the future. Namibia, the world’s third-largest diamond producer, has selected Germany, a former colony, as a partner to swiftly adopt innovative technology as a “next-generation food” to strengthen its economy, which is overly reliant on subsurface resources.
