Alweendo opens a country focused session at the African Energy Week 2023
In relation to the energy transition, our green hydrogen strategy is one of the most important activities that we are carrying out, said Minster of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo at the African Energy Week (AEW) 2023, on 17 October, in Cape Town. The AEW is the biggest gathering of energy stakeholders and policymakers on the continent and organised by the voice of the African energy sector and the African Energy Chamber
Alweendo said it is Namibia’s mission to become a world-class green hydrogen hub. “With our new discoveries made this and last year, we are on the cusp of something special. It is our intention to manage our oil and gas sector to transform our economy. We are set to introduce a lot of market policies to ensure that in a country, value is being generated from these oil and gas resources,” he added.
Representing one of Africa’s most exciting exploring frontiers, the Invest in Namibia Energies session, sponsored by the Namibia International Energy Conference, featured an impressive slate of policymakers and company executives who provided an in-depth insight into the region’s upstream exploration opportunities.
President of petroleum system modeling company, Brazil Petroleum, Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello said the future of the world starts with Africa, one of the richest continents in the world. “The future of Namibia is unique,” Mello added.
Senior Vice President of Sales at seismic acquisition company, PGS, Chris Drage said in terms of technology, they have been acquiring seismic surveys through Namibia over a period of 20 years. “The criticality is that we work together to ensure vessels are here and that they stay in this part of Africa as we start to more efficiently source data together,” said Drage.
Petroleum Commissioner for the Minister of Mines and Energy of Namibia, Maggy Shino said attracting investment follows the results that they see now. “Everything is much bigger and much better than expected when we are exploring. We are therefore in a space where we are looking for bigger financial muscles and companies with more strength to help us take this forward,” added Shino.
Acting Managing Director for Namibia’s National Oil Company, Namcor, Shiwana Ndeunyema said they recognise that during exploration, there are carbon emissions, which gives us the opportunity to create a robust environment, social land governance strategy, which is effectively where the country is.
Chief Executive for the Governmental program PetroFund, Nillian Mulemi said they have trained in excess of 360 Namibians with varying degrees. “We have further provided specialized training in oil and gas for more than 60 Namibians. 40% of them are with National Oil Companies (NOC) and nearly all the experts you speak to at the NOC with oil and gas expertise comes from funding from PetroFund,” said Mulemi.
Presidential Economic Advisor and Hydrogen Commissioner for the Government of Namibia, James Mnyupe said there is a multitude of hydrogen projects in Namibia, but the biggest questions, are whether the supply chain capable of meeting the opportunity and is the demand ready to meet other forms of hydrogen production?
The Government of Namibia has sought to engage multinational firms to compete for multi-billion-dollar projects in the country. While still in the exploration stage, the southern African country is poised to benefit from its immense hydrocarbon potential through the exploration and development of oil and gas fields, its transportation and storage, and eventual refining of petroleum products for export to international markets.
The session closed with the panel discussing Namibia’s renewable energy potential, highlighting the country’s role in the global energy transition.
