Global pumping giant ready to support hydrogen economy
With abundant sunshine and wind southern Africa is perfectly positioned to become a global powerhouse in green hydrogen production.
As the world shifts towards cleaner energy sources Namibia and South Africa provide favourable conditions and are well situated upon one of the world’s central shipping routes to transport the commodity to all corners of the globe. Not surprisingly, two key projects are already in advanced stages of development in Namibia with the Hyphen Hydrogen Energy and Daures projects well underway and gearing to transform southern Africa into a vital supplier of hydrogen to meet the energy demands of developed nations.
Global pumping solutions provider KSB has identified the vast potential of these types of projects in southern Africa and through its KSB Pumps and Valves subsidiaries in Namibia and South Africa is investing heavily in bringing the right skills to the region. This type of specialised planning is essential to ensure the success of the hydrogen economy as the process of creating green hydrogen is complex as is the generation of renewable electricity to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen through electrolysis.
According to KSB business strategist, Ulrich Stahl the important enabler function of hydrogen is that it makes the transport of renewable energy over long distances possible. Furthermore, transporting Hydrogen as a gas or in liquid condition is challenging. Being a light gas it is difficult to contain and requires compressing and cryogenic freezing to convert it to liquid form. This is prohibitively difficult and has led to techniques where it is converted to ammonia which is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen. The addition of nitrogen to create ammonia makes it easier to store and transport than pure hydrogen. Once shipped to its destination, it can be converted back into hydrogen, making it a practical and scalable solution for fulfilling global energy needs.
Energy integration
In Namibia the Hyphen Hydrogen Project aims to build a massive 3 GW electrolyser facility near Lüderitz with production of green hydrogen set to begin by 2026. At full capacity, it will produce 3 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually. This ambitious project will draw on 6GW of renewable energy generated from wind and solar power ensuring that the hydrogen it produces is entirely green and emissions-free. The hydrogen will be exported primarily to Europe with Rotterdam allocated as a key destination for energy integration.
The Daures Project follows a similar path focusing on leveraging Namibia’s climate and space to develop large-scale hydrogen infrastructure. These projects will also require the expansion of towns to accommodate thousands of new jobs and the building of residential, industrial and port infrastructure. This is expected to create substantial economic growth and job opportunities in the region.
KSB Pumps and Valves Namibia managing director, DeWet Van Wyk, adds that with its local manufacturing ability and access to global supply chains, KSB is well poised to support the scale of the hydrogen economy where entire regions need to be transformed. “From residential housing to essential services, we need to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to sustain the thousands of people who will be working on these projects.”
“As a result KSB is planning for the full cycles of equipment and services needed as the scale of these hydrogen projects requires extensive infrastructure, both for the hydrogen production process and for supporting the influx of workers and services needed to sustain the operations.
“For hydrogen production, advanced electrolyser plants need to be built to separate hydrogen from water using renewable energy. Our technology will play a crucial role in supplying the specialised pumps needed to handle ultra-pure water in electrolysers, as well as those needed for pressurising hydrogen and convert it to ammonia to facilitate transport.
“Our pumps ensure the ultra-pure water used in electrolysis remains contaminant-free, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the electrolysers. Additionally, we pressurize the hydrogen, making it easier and cheaper to transport it as ammonia. Beyond the technical infrastructure, these projects will require significant investment in population amenities. The remote location of the hydrogen projects, particularly in sparsely populated areas like Lüderitz and the Northern Cape, necessitates the development of entire support ecosystems. Housing for thousands of workers will need to be built along with critical services such as wastewater treatment, food supply chains, schools and healthcare facilities among others. Small towns like Lüderitz, currently home to just a few hundred residents, are expected to grow significantly to accommodate the workforce required for these projects.”
KSB Pumps and Valves market area manager, Dylan Mitchell, further explains that the conversion of hydrogen into ammonia presents an efficient solution to the logistical challenge of transporting energy across vast distances. Ammonia can be shipped using existing infrastructure allowing southern Africa to export energy to areas like Europe and Japan where clean energy demand is on the rise. Once at its destination, ammonia can be split back into hydrogen and fed into industries such as steel manufacturing, petrochemicals and power generation.
“We believe that with international collaboration, government support and private-sector investment the green hydrogen projects in Namibia and South Africa hold enormous promise. Southern Africa’s ability to produce and export clean green hydrogen positions the region as a strategic destination for global investment. The infrastructure needed to support these projects will also provide much-needed economic growth,” Ulrich concludes.
