A consortium led by H₂ application development company, Hyphen Technical, comprising of CMB.TECH, TransNamib Holdings Limited, University of Namibia and Traxtion has been awarded grant funding for the development of Africa's first dual-fuel H₂-diesel locomotives.

The project, called HyRail Namibia, will use Namibian-produced green H₂ supplied from Cleanergy Solutions Namibia green H₂ facility near Walvis Bay to power the H₂ dual-fuel locomotive consist.

At the Namibian Green H₂ Conference in Windhoek, on 16th August, the four winners of the Namibian green H₂ pilot projects were announced by Presidential Economic Advisor and green H₂ commissioner, James Mnyupe. The four pilot projects are partly funded from a share of the €30 MM of grant funding made available by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

A consortium comprising of Hyphen Technical, CMB.TECH, TransNamib (the Namibian National Railways), the University of Namibia and Traxtion, were successfully awarded funding towards the consortium's proposed €7.6-MM H₂ locomotive project, that aims to develop Africa's first dual-fuel H₂-diesel locomotive to be fueled with Namibian green H₂. The H₂ technology is provided by CMB.TECH and the H₂ fuel is provided by Cleanergy Solutions Namibia, which is developing a green H₂ production facility near Walvis Bay.

The Hyphen Technical led consortium proposes to convert two traditional diesel-electric locomotives to dual-fuel using H₂ technology developed over two decades by CMB.TECH.

The project is named HyRail Namibia, in alignment with its goals of introducing green H₂ as a fuel for locomotives in Namibia and the region. The project expected to take 18 months to complete, is comprised of the conversion of two locomotives to use H₂ in internal combustion engines, and a H₂ fuel storage car to store fuel for the locomotives. The prototypes will be built and adapted at the Traxtion Rail Hub in Rosslyn, South Africa and then moved to Walvis Bay for operation by TransNamib. Maintenance of the locomotives will take place in Namibia by Traxtion, which will also provide training for TransNamib technical staff. Through this project, TransNamib will be the first state-owned railway in Africa to operate H₂ powered locomotives. The project pilot aims to pave the way towards conversion of the entire locomotive fleet in Namibia in the future.

“With the grant support, we will be able to offer TransNamib the experience of operating a locomotive which can run on a clean and cheap fuel produced in Namibia. The tandem set of two dual fuel locomotives with an H₂ storage carriage in between, will be the first in the world, and has a great potential to offer low-cost logistics, which will bring new opportunities for the country,” said Roy Campe - CTO CMB.TECH.

“Hyphen Technical and its consortium partners are honored to be chosen to develop Africa’s first green hydrogen powered locomotives under this grant program. We look forward to working with our consortium partners, BMBF and the Government of Namibia in taking this first step towards the decarbonization of Namibia’s railways and take a lead in African rail decarbonization,” said Konrad Boshoff - Hyphen Technical CEO.