German minister pursues hydrogen in Namibia, South Africa after Russian gas cut-off | Business

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck began a five-day trip to Namibia and South Africa Sunday, part of a push to secure new energy resources for Europe’s biggest economy to compensate for the cut-off from Russian gas supplies.

During his first stop in the Namibian capital Windhoek, Habeck, who’ll be accompanied by a delegation of 24 German business leaders, will sign an agreement on the production of green hydrogen.

“Namibia has very great advantages in terms of location compared to Europe,” Habeck told reporters before flying out of Berlin. Namibia’s Skeleton Coast on the Atlantic Ocean is ideal for green-hydrogen production due to an abundance of sun and wind, he added.

Germany’s RWE and consortium Hyphen Hydrogen Energy recently signed a memorandum that could see RWE offtake up to 300,000 tons per year of green ammonia, a hydrogen derivative that is particularly suitable for transport by ship.

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