29 Sep 2023
History was made when the bricklaying ceremony for Africa’s first public green hydrogen refuelling station took place on 28 September 2023 in Walvis Bay.
The hydrogen production plant will use solar energy for hydrogen production on site as synthetic fuel for trucks, equipment at the port of Walvis Bay and locomotives.
The private sector hydrogen refuelling station is expected to be fully operational by mid 2024 and is a joint venture between Cleanergy Solutions Namibia and the Belgian company CMB.TECH.
It includes a ten-hectare solar park in the desert outside Walvis Bay with a hydrogen production plant equipped with a 5-Megawatt proton exchange membrane electrolyser and a 5-Megawatt per hour battery.
This plant directly uses solar energy to produce hydrogen, which will then be made available at the planned public hydrogen refuelling station for trucks and heavy-duty applications.
“The energy will be stored in the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System),” said Sven Thieme, executive chairman of the Ohlthaver and List Group, which owns Cleanergy.
A hybrid control system will efficiently manage the electricity flow to ensure stable green hydrogen production and a reliable and stable mini grid.
“This set-up is unique worldwide and will equip Cleanergy Solutions Namibia with the necessary knowledge for its future developments,” Thieme said.
The chief executive officer of CMB.TECH, Alexander Saverys said: “Cleanergy is a very important investment for the CMB Group. It is the first major hydrogen production project in Africa and will prove that green hydrogen can be produced efficiently and cheaply with renewable African sun.”
Finance Minister Iipumbu Shiimi, who laid the first brick at the ceremony said, the 3,5 billion N$ investment would offer Namibia “a golden opportunity to become a sustainable green energy power house”.
Brigitte Weidlich
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