Construction of infrastructure at Daures Green Hydrogen Village is set to begin in a few weeks' time, following a groundbreaking ceremony held on Monday.
Green Hydrogen Commissioner, James Mnyupe assured Namibians that the benefits of the country's first-ever green hydrogen village will be felt as soon as this year already.
Namibia is making headlines globally for taking the bold step to develop green hydrogen villages across the country, and for the young people at the forefront of this initiative, along with partners like the German Government, who are funding the development.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Brandberg mining site, 90km outside of Uis.
"We are grateful to be recipients of this process that has started between the German and Namibian governments. This has resulted in the availability of this grant funding which can bring the proof of concept or the pilot project to life but at the same time we are also very grateful to have a receptive community with receptive leadership that embraces new technology" said Daures Green Hydrogen Village, CEO, Jerome Namaseb.
The green hydrogen villages are intended to produce hydrogen and ammonia from renewable resources, as well as agricultural produce, and create research opportunities for local and international students.
Dr. Zivayi Chiguvare, Head of the Green Hydrogen Research Institute says solar energy is abundant here, and it will be harvested using solar panels. When harvested, that energy, part of it pumps, the water that comes from the ground. That water will be pumped, and stored, and part of it will be used to electrolyze the water and break the water into hydrogen and oxygen, when we now have hydrogen, it can be kept, and stored it. This place should not be dark at night, there should be lights now, coming from that hydrogen that we generated. We will be deploying our vegetables, watered by the water we have pumped and stored at a high level and that will water our vegetables."
The Green Hydrogen Commissioner is confident about the project, which is expected to see the development of massive infrastructure, including solar panels, wind turbines, greenhouses, water reservoirs, and houses on the barren lands of the Dorob National Park.
"For a community that had according to the chief little to celebrate in these lands, this is a lot of infrastructure that will be put up. And it's not being done in 2030, it's not being done in 2027, it's being done in March 2023, two years after the Government announced hope and promise for the Namibian people. Of course, our young people are allowed to challenge us and say what are we doing to develop jobs today, this is but one is those efforts". said Green Hydrogen Commissioner, James Mnyupe.
Executive Director of the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) says stakeholders are committed to transforming the barren area into a place of tranquility, sustainability, and community development.