Hyphen - Green Hydrogen Production and Supply Project in the Tsau//Khaeb National Park

In September 2021, Hyphen successfully bid to develop the country’s first large-scale vertically integrated green hydrogen production and supply project in the Tsua ||Khaeb National Park (TKNP), near Lüderitz in the //Kharas Region. Hyphen was awarded preferred bidder status in November 2021.

On 26 May 2023, the Government of Namibia and Hyphen signed a Feasibility and Implementation Agreement (FIA), which governs the process for the development, implementation and operation of its proposed Hyphen Green Hydrogen Production and Supply Project (the “Project”). Under the FIA, Hyphen is responsible for the technical, financial, environmental, social and commercial delivery of the Project, while the government is responsible for providing the land on which the project will be established, and developing and implementing the required legal, fiscal and regulatory environment necessary for the establishment and sustainable operation of a green hydrogen industry in Namibia.

SLR Environmental Consulting (Namibia) has been appointed by Hyphen to act as its Environmental Assessment Practitioner for the Project, including undertaking the future Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Project.

Status

The FIA is split into five broad sequential phases, the first of which allows Hyphen six months to meet various FIA conditions and for the Namibian Government to choose to exercise its option to acquire up to a 24% interest in the Project. Hyphen has commenced with a number of activities in order to meet these FIA conditions, including:

• Appointment of Environmental Assessment Practitioner (environmental consultants), SLR;
• Completion of the ESIA for the installation of meteorological (met) masts in the TKNP;
• Commencement of the installation of met masts;
• Appointment of owner’s engineering firm, ILF Consulting Engineers;
• Collection of environmental baseline data within the TKNP; and
• Launching the Project’s socio-economic development framework for the Project and undertaking a roadshow in order to communicate this plan to all regions in Namibia.

The attached letter provides an overview and status of each these current activities.

Please note that it is anticipated that the ESIA will only formally commence in Q2 2024 once the initial engineering design has been completed and the Project footprint has been confirmed. All stakeholders already registered on the Project database will be notified when the ESIA formally commences.

SLR facilitated a Focus Group Meeting on 7 February 2024 focused on the biodiversity aspects of the proposed project. A recording of this meeting can be found below.

More information can be found at Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (hyphenafrica.com)