The port in Lüderitz town has formerly enjoyed the diamonds and fishing wild booms but now wades through high rates of unemployment and obsolete infrastructure.
A green hydrogen project is now prepared as proposed to be “the third revolution of Lüderitz,” says Mr Balhoa, one of the town council members.
According to Mr Balhoa, the project will equip and employ local people, or “Butchers” as they affectionately name themselves – lowering the town’s 55% unemployment rate.
“For a town that’s really been struggling economically over the past 10 or 15, maybe longer, years, this is something that people are really very excited about,” he says.
The proposed project will be located near the Lüderitz town in the Tsau //Khaeb National Park, and summarily generate around 300,000 tones of green hydrogen each year.
Summarily, renewable energy from the sun and wind will be used to separate hydrogen molecules from desalinated water.
Those hydrogen molecules in their pure form or in derivative green ammonia can make up a variety of products, including sustainable fuels.
The preferred bidder, Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, is set to start production in 2026 and will have the rights to the project for 40 years, once the necessary feasibility processes are concluded.
The firm says the four years of construction are likely to create 15,000 direct jobs and 3,000 more during full operations – and that 90% of them will be filled by locals.