Tweya turns down Mnyupe’s green hydrogen presentation

Members of the parliamentary standing committee on natural resources on Tuesday declined a virtual meeting with green hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe.

Mnyupe, who is president Hage Geingob’s economic adviser, is in charge of the government’s ambitious goal to establish a green hydrogen sector with European partners.

He was scheduled to address a National Assembly committee on Namibia’s green hydrogen strategies.

However, committee chairperson Tjekero Tweya refused to allow Mnyupe, who was said to be in Japan, to address them.

“If he does not have time for a dialogue, we are willing to reschedule so that he can engage us in the form of a dialogue. We want to know,” Tweya said.

The former information and communications technology (ICT) minister said the committee would not consider a virtual presentation.

“We do not just want to be told in parliament yes, somebody has approved it, therefore you parliamentarians have nothing to add, just do it,” he said.

Mnyupe was expected to be part of a team from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) which briefed the lawmakers on green hydrogen.

At the same session, Tweya also chastised a senior official from the German ministry of economic and climate action who spoke to the committee virtually.

He was not amused by Johanna Friese’s presentation, which briefly discussed European requirements for green hydrogen.

The government and its German partners are in the process of establishing Africa’s first green hydrogen plant.

Hyphen Hydrogen Energy has been selected to develop a project in the //Kharas region to produce 350 000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year for export, mostly to Europe.

“Thank you very much for asking us to implement the EU [European Union] act and regulations and all that. It’s a pity we cannot engage her. It was supposed to be a dialogue, but if it is just a lecture about how we should comply with EU laws and regulations, yes, we have heard the lecture.

“I thought it was a dialogue about Namibian resources, and now we are told to do it according to EU laws and rules. What is the point? This is why I wanted to know who drives this project.”

Tweya expressed his doubts about the green hydrogen project, which is being driven by State House, he said.

He said even the Ministry of Mines and Energy is not in control of the project.

“We know the investors have money. But they don’t have the resources to double their money. These are the people who travelled thousands of kilometres to come for these resources.

“There must be shared prosperity of these resources by all Namibians,” he said.

Mnyupe could not be reached for comment.

Stefanie Bush of Namibia’s Environmental Lawyers Network said there is a lack of legislation on green hydrogen, including the manufacturing, storage and transportation of hydrogen and ammonia.

She said Namibia does not have renewable energy legislation like other countries.

Bush said too many legal authorities are involved in the initiative.

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