Green hydrogen development company Hyphen Hydrogen Energy is investing €2-million on its MetMast Measuring Campaign, which makes use of meteorological masts (MetMasts) to precisely model the energy yield of the wind and solar resources to enable the optimised design of a project it is developing near Lüderitz, in Namibia.

The investment includes the deployment of ten new MetMasts and the refitting of one mast it acquired from Namibian power utility NamPower.

Hyphen – a joint venture between renewable energy company Enertrag and investment and project development company Nicholas Holdings – is planning to produce about two-million tonnes of green ammonia a year at the project from about 7 GW of renewable energy and 3 GW of electrolyser capacity.

The company this week hosted Namibian President Dr Nangolo Mbumba at the project site during his four-day visit to the Hardap and //Kharas region.

He inaugurated the start of Hyphen’s MetMast Measuring Campaign, which entails the deployment of the ten new masts, which are 120 m tall and boast sensor and data collection equipment, as well as the refitting with new measuring equipment of the mast it acquired from NamPower.

The company notes that all ten of the new masts have been completed structurally, while seven have been fitted with all instruments and have started collecting wind data.

The remaining three are expected to be fitted with the required instruments within the coming month, weather and wind permitting.

Hyphen points out that it has to measure the wind and solar yield for at least a year, but that it expects to generate up to two years’ data by the end of the feasibility period, which will enhance the “robustness of the data”.

Once sufficient measurements have been taken, the company will create high-resolution, three-dimensional seasonal wind profile simulations.

The company says this has already started and that the data that is yet to be collected will further refine the detailed resolution.

With this wind simulation model, based on accurate on-site and year-round data, Hyphen says it will have maximised confidence in its validation of the design of the wind park being built as part of the green ammonia production project. This includes confidence in the turbine specification and layout, as well as how wind energy can power the vertically integrated Hyphen project over a 24-hour day, and over all seasons in a year. 

"Namibia has made great strides to become the frontrunner in green hydrogen and ammonia production. The inauguration of Hyphen's MetMasts signifies the next and essential phase to develop this green hydrogen project for and in Namibia,” said Mbumba.

“President Mbumba's visit to Hyphen’s project not only underscores its importance for ... Namibia but also highlights its unique position as sub-Saharan Africa's largest, most advanced and only fully vertically integrated green hydrogen project.

“His Excellency's attendance demonstrates the importance of the Hyphen project to Namibia and the transformative impact it will have on Namibia's economy and citizens,” the company expressed.

"We are appreciative of [the President’s] support for this transformative project and for honouring us by officially launching our resource measurement campaign. This is a very ambitious project as evidenced by the fact that we believe this MetMast campaign is one of the largest single wind field measurement campaigns ever undertaken globally,” added Hyphen CEO Marco Raffinetti.