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The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) will be completing a port masterplan study later this year, an official at Namport told Zawya Projects.
“The study is expected to be completed later this year and is a revision of the existing master plan study for the Port of Luderitz,” said Tana Pesat, Corporate Communications Manager, Namport.
In November 2021, Namport had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Port of Rotterdam to devise a plan on how best to position Namibia’s ports to become green hydrogen export hubs and facilitate the forecasted growth and flow of the green hydrogen supply chain from Namibia to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The Port of Rotterdam (PoR) anticipates a demand of twenty million tonnes of hydrogen per annum to pass through its port’s industrial complex by the year 2050.
As part of readiness planning, Namport has set aside 350 hectares of land at the Port of Walvis Bay North Port for allocation to green hydrogen related industries.
However, a new deep-water port of Luderitz at Angra Point will also be developed to complement the North Port in cementing the country’s drive to become a hub for the production and export of green hydrogen to Europe, Namport had said in a statement in August 2022.
The Port of Lüderitz, located 254 nautical miles south of the Port of Walvis Bay along Namibia’s coastline, caters to the southern part of the country, and provides access to markets in the Northern Cape of South Africa.
Recognising the need for dedicated bulk facilities to cater for the mining and related industries, Namport had commissioned a feasibility study as part of its master plan for enhancing responsiveness to its customers.
A June 2022 Zawya Projects report had quoted Presidential Economic Advisor James Mnyupe as saying that the Dutch have provided grant funding for the port master plan revision and hence, Netherlands will get preferred status to help develop the port to enable it to ship hydrogen and related molecules.
(Writing by Sowmya Sundar; Editing by Anoop Menon)
