Port of Antwerp Bruges plans to develop a €250 million hydrogen and ammonia storage and export facility at the Namibian Port of Walvis Bay, together with the African nation’s state logistics firm.

The facility, which Chief Executive Officer Jacques Vandermeiren said may receive European Union funding, is part of Namibia’s plan to develop a green hydrogen industry to harness its abundant solar and wind energy to produce what’s being touted as a carbon-friendly fuel of the future. 

The facility, which will be equally owned by Port of Antwerp and the Namibian Ports Authority, will be built within three to five years at the greenfield site near the existing port site, which includes a container terminal. A unit of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA is in talks to operate the facility.

It will store and ship hydrogen and a derivative, ammonia, produced by companies including Belgium’s Cie Maritime Belge SA. 

The aim is to refuel passing ships and transport ammonia for use in heavy industry clusters in Belgium, Germany and elsewhere in Europe that are struggling to reduce their carbon emissions and aren’t suitable for conversion to the use of renewable electricity.

“They need alternatives to electrons, you can’t electrify,” Vandermeiren said in an interview at a CMB event near Walvis Bay on Thursday.

Green hydrogen is made by splitting water using renewable energy. It can then be used as fuel or converted into ammonia, which is easier to transport.