May 03, 2024 [Esquare]- The Port of Antwerp-Bruges plans to build a €250 million ($267 million) hydrogen and ammonia export terminal at the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia within three to five years.

The storage, bunkering and export facilities will be jointly owned by the state-owned Namibia Ports Authority (Namport), while Bloomberg reports that a subsidiary of the shipping company MSC is in talks to operate it.

The privately owned Belgian port authority will also partner with Cleanergy, a joint venture between Belgium’s CMB.TECH and Namibian conglomerate Ohlthaver & List Group, and Namport to launch Africa’s first dual-fuel hydrogen-powered ship, a multifunctional port service vessel.

Cleanergy is in the midst of developing Namibia’s first integrated hydrogen production and refueling site, at the port of Walvis Bay, with completion scheduled for the final quarter of this year.

The general director of the port of Antwerp-Bruges, Jacques Vandermeiren, stated Bloomberg that the hydrogen and ammonia export terminal could be eligible for EU funding.

Namibia has often been touted as a potential exporter of cheap green hydrogen and ammonia to Europe; Last October, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged €1 billion of public and private financing to build infrastructure in Namibia for hydrogen and renewable raw materials.

However, to date, the only facilities that have begun construction will direct green H₂ towards national fertilizer production and direct iron reduction.

Meanwhile, 3GW’s flagship Hyphen project, which is explicitly export-oriented, will make a final investment decision next year, although it has already seen its estimated $10 billion cost soar by an undisclosed amount.

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