SDG Namibia One Funds Daures Green Fertiliser Project

Namibia's SDG Namibia One fund has agreed to provide up to $3.6 million in development funding to Enersense Energy Namibia for the Daures Green Fertiliser Project, which aims to produce up to 20,000 tonnes of green ammonia and 80,000 tonnes of ammonium sulphate fertiliser annually.

The project, located in the Daures Constituency in Namibia's Erongo Region, will combine 60 megawatts of solar and 10 megawatts of wind generation with 65 megawatt-hours of battery storage to power a 40-megawatt electrolysis facility, equipment that uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, a key step in producing green ammonia without fossil fuels.

Once built, it is expected to be one of the first commercial-scale green fertiliser projects in Southern Africa.

Project builds on an existing pilot scheme

The commercial-scale project builds on a pilot programme already developed by Enersense, funded by the German and UK governments along with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

That pilot is scheduled to produce Namibia's first locally manufactured green fertiliser later this year.

SDG Namibia One's $3.6 million commitment forms part of a total development budget of up to $7.07 million for the project.

The fund, managed through a partnership between Climate Fund Managers, Invest International and the Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia, will act as co-developer alongside Enersense Energy Namibia.

The development funding, provided by the European Union under its Global Gateway strategy and by Invest International, will go toward front-end engineering design, market development, permitting, environmental and social studies, and efforts to secure offtake agreements, contracts that commit a buyer to purchase the fertiliser once production begins.

The project partners expect to reach financial close in the second quarter of 2028 and to begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2030.

Mercia Geises, chief executive of Namibia Hydrogen Fund Managers, which manages SDG Namibia One, said the fund is providing early-stage development capital and co-development support to help move the project toward bankability, and to create the conditions needed to attract private capital at scale.

The Daures project adds to a growing portfolio for SDG Namibia One, which has already invested in three other Namibian developments: the Hyphen green hydrogen project, HyIron's Oshivela project and the Zhero Molecules Walvis Bay project.