Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Itochu Corporation to explore areas for potential collaboration to drive forward a green hydrogen project in Namibia.
Hyphen and Itochu, a Japanese general trading and investment company, will now enter into talks on areas of potential collaboration on the multi-billion-dollar green hydrogen project.
The agreement was signed by Shinya Ishizuka, Itochu’s CEO of Africa Bloc and Marco Raffinetti, Hyphen’s CEO.
Signature of the agreement took place at a signing ceremony witnessed by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry for Japan, Nishimura Yasutoshi and the Minister for Mines and Energy for Namibia, Tom Alweendo.
Hyphen’s project is being developed as the first step in the implementation of the Government’s strategy for the development of a large-scale green hydrogen industry in various regions in Namibia to support both economic growth in Namibia and assist the world in achieving its decarbonisation goals.
At full scale development, the project will produce two million tonnes of green ammonia annually by 2029 for regional and global markets, from 7GW of renewable generation capacity and 3GW of electrolyser capacity.
Raffinetti said: “Hyphen expects Japan to emerge as one of the key demand centres for green ammonia globally and we are delighted to have the opportunity to explore areas for collaboration with Itochu to unlock supply into this critical market.
“I firmly believe that Namibia has the potential to become a long-term strategic partner to Japan for the supply of green hydrogen, well beyond the scale of Hyphen’s project, given Namibia’s unique competitive advantages in green hydrogen production.
“Combined with the support of the Government of the Republic of Namibia that is progressively advancing the development of its green hydrogen economy.”