Namibia’s energy sector is moving from ambition to execution. Offshore oil developments are progressing toward investment decisions, green hydrogen projects are moving through engineering and financing stages, and nuclear cooperation talks with Russia have opened a new layer of long-term planning. Together, these tracks reflect a deliberate diversification strategy that positions hydrocarbons, renewables and emerging baseload options as complementary – not competing – pillars of the country’s energy development.
Offshore Oil and Gas: Projects Moving Toward FID
Namibia’s offshore Orange Basin continues to anchor its near-term energy and revenue strategy. Following a string of high-impact discoveries by TotalEnergies, Shell and Galp, 2025 saw appraisal activity intensify across Blocks 2913B and 2914B. TotalEnergies’ Venus discovery – estimated to hold several billion barrels of oil in place – is now progressing toward a final investment decision in 2026, which would make it Namibia’s first deepwater development.
Galp’s Mopane discoveries, meanwhile, strengthened the basin’s commercial narrative in 2025, with additional appraisal wells confirming reservoir quality and scale. These upstream milestones are critical not only for exports, but also for funding domestic infrastructure, skills transfer and long-term energy diversification.
Green Hydrogen: Anchoring a Low-Carbon Future
While oil and gas provide near-term revenue and support skills development, green hydrogen is emerging as Namibia’s most significant low-carbon export opportunity. The $10 billion Hyphen green hydrogen and ammonia project, located in the Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park, advanced its development roadmap with front-end engineering and environmental work continuing through 2025. The project targets up to 3.75 GW of renewable capacity in its initial phases, combining solar and wind generation with large-scale electrolysis to produce green hydrogen and ammonia for export to European and Asian markets.
Crucially, the project’s bankability was reinforced when the African Development Bank approved a $10 million loan through the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa in December 2025, aimed at de-risking early development and crowding in private capital.
In Walvis Bay, a solar-powered green hydrogen hub integrating production, storage, distribution and a Hydrogen Academy is already operational, supporting skills development and pilot applications. The government-backed Namibia Green Hydrogen Program has also facilitated industrial partnerships, including a memorandum of understanding between Broadmind Mining and HyIron Green Technologies to explore green steel production using hydrogen-based direct reduced iron – a step toward local value addition rather than pure commodity export.
Nuclear Talks with Russia: Baseload on the Horizon
In parallel, Namibia is looking at nuclear energy as a long-term complement to renewables and hydrocarbons, with recent talks in Moscow this month focusing on cooperation frameworks, feasibility assessments and skills development, including interest in small modular reactors (SMRs) as a scalable baseload option. Preliminary discussions have referenced potential investments of around $1.2 billion for initial SMR deployment and supporting infrastructure.
For Namibia – one of the world’s top uranium producers – nuclear cooperation presents an opportunity to move further along the value chain, linking resource endowment with domestic energy security. While nuclear timelines remain longer-dated, the discussions underscore Namibia’s willingness to consider all credible technologies to stabilize its grid as demand grows.
A Benchmark – and a Platform for Dialogue
Namibia’s strategy is not about replacing one energy source with another, but about integrating oil and gas, renewables and emerging technologies into a coordinated system. Offshore hydrocarbons provide near-term revenue and infrastructure, green hydrogen builds long-term export competitiveness, and nuclear adds future baseload capacity.
This integrated vision will be a focal point at the Namibia International Energy Conference, taking place on April 14-16, 2026 in Windhoek in partnership with the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy and the African Energy Chamber. Under the theme, “The Road to First Oil & Beyond,” the conference brings together government, investors and developers to advance dialogue across hydrocarbons, renewables and new energy technologies – mirroring the country’s own diversification pathway.
