By: Justicia Shipena
The amount of royalties and taxes the Namibian government expects to benefit from the Green Hydrogen project is currently unknown.
This is according to Green Hydrogen commissioner and Presidential Economic Advisor James Munyupe who was responding to questions at State House in Windhoek.
When the Feasibility and Implementation Agreement (FIA) between the government and Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen) was being signed, Eagle FM questioned how much money the government is expecting to make in taxes and royalties.
With a vision to establish a robust green fuels industry on a significant scale, Namibia sets its sights on a production target of 10-12 million metric tons per annum (Mtpa) of hydrogen equivalent by the year 2050.
“You have to appreciate that the revenue for the product has not yet been finalised. So it is very hard to talk about what the numbers could be,” Munyupe said.
However, he pointed out that the government has developed a few scenarios of how this project may generate revenue.
The green hydrogen project is set to provide cash for the Namibian government through land rentals, royalties on all project earnings, and taxes.
In addition, the government has the option to become a co-investor in the project, with the right to take up to a 24% equity stake at cost.
Munyupe said the Namibian government knows that in some fairly manageable ranges the particular project could produce almost 20% of today’s revenue taken by the government over the years once both stages are in operation.
“So it is, without doubt, looking to be an extremely significant contributor to the Namibian fiscal. Of course, as we get more and more insight into those revenues we will be very happy to share them,” he said.
Finance Minister Ipumbu Shiimi clarified that the government will receive €12 million (N$252 million) for land leased by Hyphen Hydrogen in the Tsau ||Khaeb National Park for the green hydrogen project.
In addition, during the construction and operational phases, the project aims for 30% local sourcing of goods, services and materials.
The project is expected to generate up to 15,000 new jobs during the construction phase and 3,000 permanent jobs during its operation, with the goal of filling 90% of these jobs with Namibians and 20% with the youth.
