Hyphen talks up socio-economic impact
HYPHEN Hydrogen Energy has said their socio-economic development framework holds the potential to directly contribute to the upliftment and economic advancement of Namibians.
Toni Beukes, head of the socioeconomic development workstream at the project, shared this view with stakeholders during the recent business conference in Lüderitz.
Hyphen is a Namibian-registered green hydrogen development company, specifically formed to develop green hydrogen projects in Namibia for international, regional and domestic supply.
“This can be achieved in a way that could be truly transformative and sustained over time, especially if this model is replicated by subsequent developers,” said Beukes.
She also said, once realised, the Hyphen project will be the single biggest infrastructure investment project ever undertaken on the African continent.
“Although we will come armed with various expertise, models and approaches, nothing will be prebaked and we’ll be relying on the participation of our shareholders and partners to make it a success,” she explained during the conference. Since employment and local procurement are the two main requirements government included in its social impact criteria under the request for proposals invited for the project, Hyphen will accordingly implement a socioeconomic development framework to promote Namibian participation in it through employment and local procurement opportunities, according to the presentation delivered.
“The project can provide an estimated 16 176 job opportunities during the four-year construction period and 1 438 jobs during the 40-year operational period,” Beukes explained.
She added that 93% of these jobs will be reserved for Namibian citizens, whilst 20% of it will be allocated to the youth.
In terms of procurement, she said 30.6% of its value will be exclusively for local Namibian entrepreneurs.
“In order to maximise local entry participation, Hyphen will embark on initiatives to develop local suppliers to take advantage of opportunities across the value chain,” she said.
The manager added that this can be achieved by partnering local businesses and entrepreneurs with established and experienced multinationals to develop a local supply chain that supports the project.
“This could include the supply of raw materials, equipment services needed whilst we would be well placed to facilitate the provision of technical assistance and capacity building for them to meet the standards required for the project,” she explained.
The Hyphen project aims to generate approximately 300 000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, which will be supplied to regional and global markets. By 2030, the company aims to generate 1.5-2 terawatt hours of surplus electricity annually when fully optimised, meeting project requirements.
This surplus electricity production alone has the potential to replace 100% of Namibia’s import demand from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and significantly enhance the country’s energy access.