Delay in Cleanenergy hydrogen production revealed

Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group executive chairman Sven Thieme has confirmed that Cleanergy Solutions Namibia recently imported green hydrogen, which was used as a display at the company’s fuel station in the Erongo Region during Belgian king Philippe’s recent visit, because local production has been delayed due to global supply issues.

Cleanergy, a joint venture between O&L and European company CMB.TECH, imported 950 kilograms of green hydrogen from Belgium, part of which was used for the ceremonial filling up of a truck by King Philippe and President Nangolo Mbumba.

While some members of the public celebrated the landmark occasion under the impression that the green hydrogen used on the day was produced locally, Thieme has clarified that it was imported, adding that this was never kept a secret.

“The fuel station is already working, obviously now only with the imported hydrogen. The main reason why we cannot produce the hydrogen yet is because of the complete delay in the electrolyser [a critical component for starting hydrogen production], where they have a worldwide shortage of supply,” he told Namibian Sun.

“The king himself wanted to witness whether what everyone has been talking about is really true about the hydrogen and us – whether we are building something. That is why they came, to do a status check-up.”

Absence of laws

Despite the absence of laws in Namibia that regulate the transportation of green hydrogen, Thieme said the process was handled expertly.

Last week, mines and energy minister Tom Alweendo told Namibian Sun that there is a need to put in place an entirely new law to regulate the exportation and transportation of green hydrogen.

Thieme said: “The green hydrogen was transported from Antwerp, Belgium. The transportation took place on 14 February and arrived in Walvis Bay during March. The transportation and customs clearance of the green hydrogen were expertly organised and managed by DB Schenker, ensuring adherence to all regulatory and safety standards during transit”.

“The Cleanergy showcase presented to President Mbumba and [King Philippe] was designed to update these esteemed leaders on the current progress of our project. Many questions have been raised about the various green hydrogen projects in the pipeline throughout Namibia, hence we strongly deemed it necessary to update and share our progress with not only these esteemed leaders, but all those who had questions about our project,” he said.

“The purpose of importing hydrogen was not only to actually use the filling stations. In fact, we have the trucks here already. So, the filling of trucks happens physically and correctly. Obviously, we would anyway have to import hydrogen because you don’t wanna sleep and only wake up when the electrolyser is working, then you start testing everything.”

Confidentiality

Thieme further declined to share the project’s feasibility study with Namibian Sun, citing confidentiality as it contains data that is obtained under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

“While we are committed to transparency, we must adhere to our legal and contractual obligations. We will share relevant project outcomes and impacts as they become available for public disclosure.”

He added that their hydrogen production plant is not yet operational, but is scheduled to be fully functional by the fourth quarter of this year. According to him, delivery of the electrolyser is the only aspect currently delayed.

“We remain committed to advancing the development and application of green hydrogen technologies in Namibia.”

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