Hyphen Hydrogen Energy and the Development Bank of Southern Africa close €5 million funding facility at COP28 Climate Conference

Namibia, 07 December 2023 – Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) today announce the closing of a €5 million Project Preparation funding facility to progress the development of Hyphen’s landmark green hydrogen project.

This €5 million facility will go towards the partial funding of engineering, environmental, and socio-economic development workstreams related to the project’s development up to final investment decision.

This partnership demonstrates the DBSA’s belief in the Hyphen project, which is set to have a transformational impact on Namibia and its economy. A major theme of the COP28 climate conference this year is international collaboration. Today’s announcement underscores the importance of development finance institutions working with private developers in Africa to drive forward green energy development.

Hyphen and DBSA first announced plans to enter into a funding facility on 24 October 2023.

Marco Raffinetti, CEO of Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, stated that “Collaboration and partnerships with African lending institutions will be critical to the success of the Hyphen project. This funding facility shows these partnerships in action. It will provide crucial funding for the development and integration of the project, and subsequently, the socio-economic development of Namibia. Hyphen and the DBSA are aligned with the common purpose to drive the future of renewable energy in Namibia and beyond, and we look forward to working together to achieve this.”

Catherine Koffman, Group Executive Project Preparation at the, DBSA, noted that “Hyphen Hydrogen project demonstrates the catalytic impact of collaboration between private sector and development capital. The DBSA and Hyphen’s partnership will facilitate the creation of a new asset class in the energy sector with a profound and positive economic, social and environmental impact in Namibia and the region. Green Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that is vital for decarbonising key sectors of the economy, including hard-to-abate industries like steel and chemicals. The investment emphasizes the bank’s commitment in accelerating the transition to net zero and looks forward to a successful completion of the project.”

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Notes to editors:

For media enquiries contact FTI Consulting: HyphenAfrica@fticonsulting.com

About Hyphen

Hyphen Hydrogen Energy Ltd is a Namibian registered green hydrogen development company, specifically formed to develop green hydrogen projects in Namibia for international, regional and domestic supply.  Hyphen is a joint venture between Nicholas Holdings Limited and ENERTRAG SE.

Hyphen’s project is being developed as the first step in the implementation of the Government’s strategy for the development of a large-scale green hydrogen industry in various regions in Namibia to support both economic growth in Namibia and assist the world in achieving its decarbonisation goals. At full scale development, the project will produce 2 million tonnes of green ammonia annually before the end of the decade for regional and global markets, from ~7GW of renewable generation capacity and ~3GW of electrolyser capacity, cutting 5-6 million tonnes (annually) of CO₂ emissions, with Namibia’s annual 2021 emissions totalling 4.01 million tonnes[1].

About ENERTRAG SE

ENERTRAG is one of the largest renewable-energy companies in Germany. The company develops, builds, owns and operates utility-scale integrated energy plants that produce reliable electricity and green hydrogen exclusively from wind and sun. ENERTRAG produces 2 Terawatt-hours of electricity per year from 1 Gigawatt of owned assets and has more than 10 Gigawatts of wind, solar and green-hydrogen projects under development in ten countries across the globe.

About Nicholas Holdings Limited

Nicholas Holdings Limited is a strategic investment and infrastructure project developer and operator with a 30-year track record of investment and project development in Africa and Europe, mainly through its subsidiary company, Principle Capital.

About the DBSA

The DBSA is a government-owned development finance institution, established in 1983, with the mandate to promote economic growth as well as regional integration for sustainable development projects and programmes in South Africa, SADC and the wider Sub-Saharan Africa. The DBSA’s primary purpose is to promote economic development and growth, improve the quality of lives of people and promote regional integration through infrastructure, finance and development.

The DBSA mandate focuses the banks underlying policy to play a catalytic role in delivering developmental infrastructure in South Africa and the rest of Africa. More information is available on the website https://www.dbsa.org/about-us