Export initiative for environmental protection: Hydrogen project HygO in Namibia

The pioneering hydrogen project of a school near the port city of Walvis Bay in Namibia promises a reliable and clean power supply and, at the same time, irrigation of the school garden. The HygO project, funded by the federal government, is intended to ensure that students have a permanent supply of electricity during lessons. In addition, wastewater is to be treated to a quality that allows it to be used for irrigation.

The project partners behind HygO, which include the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology as well as a number of companies, are working with African cooperation partners on modern hydrogen technology. A key component of the sustainable and emission-free power supply are so-called microgrids, which store electricity generated from the sun and wind in the form of hydrogen and convert it back into electricity when needed. But that's not all: the oxygen produced during electrolysis is used to cleanly treat wastewater in combination with other filter technologies. This can then be used to water vegetables in the school garden, for example.

Worldwide projects within the framework of the environmental protection export initiative

HygO is part of the Federal Government's environmental protection export initiative, with which Germany has been supporting projects in over 75 countries since 2016. They range from the production of clean electricity to water supply and wastewater management to the handling of waste and raw materials.

The projects also focus on the joint development of innovative environmental technologies – as is the case with HygO. Students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in the capital Windhoek are involved. The practical implementation of the project is planned for 2024.