Green hydrogen commissioner James Mnyupe said the much-touted Hyphen green hydrogen project in Tsau //Khaeb National Park is awaiting approval and must first undergo thorough environmental and technical evaluations to ensure it doesn’t impact park tourism.
Mnyupe said before the project becomes operational, the government will thoroughly assess all business applications, including Hyphen and tourism concessions seeking to operate within the park.
The primary objective is to facilitate their harmonious coexistence in order to protect the park’s unique flora and fauna.
“Hyphen is far from being a done deal. It is an opportunity being pursued by a company and its business case, like that of any mine or other hydrogen projects, operators will be subjected to technical, environmental and financial feasibility studies,” Mnyupe said.
Mnyupe explained that since the park is a multi-use area, it allows for a range of activities in compliance with existing laws, including mining operations, mineral prospecting by various exclusive prospecting licences (EPLs), and expressions of interest from various tourism concession operators.
Additionally, these expressions of interest include the establishment of both renewable and gas-operated power plants.
“Last I checked, there are no tourism concessions restricted. Hyphen is merely conducting feasibility studies in the park and has to comply with access restrictions subject to the full letter of the law, as it should be,” Mnyupe said.
Environment spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said due to the park’s 22 000 km2 size, industrial projects such as Hyphen can coexist with tourism concessions in the park.
“It is possible for all to exist in the park, the park is big enough. What we do is we look at how they can coexist,” Muyunda said.
SLR Environmental Consulting has been tasked with performing the environmental impact assessment for the project, with the assessment set to commence in the first quarter of next year.
Currently, Hyphen is waiting for the completion of the initial engineering design and project footprint for the country’s first large-scale vertically integrated green hydrogen production and supply project.
Hyphen chief executive Marco Raffinetti on Monday said they commenced with the installation of 10 measurement towers within Hyphen’s two concession areas in the park in August.
“The purpose of the masts is to gather met data over a 12 to 24-month period to better understand the suitability of the wind resource in the wind generation area and collect environmental data in relation to bats,” Raffinetti said.
SLR has commissioned several specialists to collect baseline data within the park, including vegetation, birds, mammals, insects, reptiles and amphibians.
Raffinetti said an understanding of the sensitivity of the baseline environment is important to inform initial engineering design and for the identification of the potential impacts for assessment in the environment impact assessment process.
“The exceptionally heavy winter rainfall at the end of June 2023 improved the potential for the collection of higher quality baseline data due to the increased plant and animal activity after these rainfall events,” Raffinetti said.
The baseline data collection and processing is expected to continue through October and November.
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