Zim must eye emerging market for green hydrogen

ZIMBABWE should cash in on the green energy rush and should position itself as a leader in the emerging market for green hydrogen.

“Green” hydrogen, a carbonfriendly non-toxic gas produced using renewable energy, can play a significant role in achieving a green gas-neutral economy by 2050, helping to combat global warming.

Near neighbour Namibia is already “putting up to €40 million (US$45,3 million) from Germany to use on feasibility studies and pilot projects related to so-called green hydrogen.

Zimbabwe’s natural advantages can help it produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen — a crucial ingredient in policies hoping to cut carbon emissions to the net-zero benchmark by 2050.

The list is quite short of those new potential large renewable capable countries

But then there are significant challenges — infrastructure, suitable water and just the uncertainty associated with someone who’s not been doing that in the past on a large scale.

In Namibia, several global players have expressed interest after that country’s government put out a request for proposals to develop two separate but adjacent sites, where it envisions massive desalination plants.

The sites would also include wind and solar farms as well as electrolysers — systems that use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen — which would be used to produce green hydrogen and ammonia for export.

In the global race for green hydrogen, Namibia is the latest subSaharan African country with major natural assets to position itself as a potential green energy hub.