German Firm’s African Green-Energy Project Runs Into Ghosts From Past

NAIROBI, Kenya—A giant hydrogen-generation project in Africa is pitting German clean-energy executives against descendants of victims of Germany’s forgotten colonial genocide.

A major German renewables company, Enertrag, aims to build one of the world’s biggest green hydrogen plants, called Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, on the Atlantic coast of Namibia, Germany’s former colony in southwestern Africa. If all goes well, the company predicts the $10 billion facility, powered by wind and solar, will help wean Europe off oil and gas and create thousands of jobs in Namibia. Last year, Germany announced its intention to recognize Hyphen as a project of strategic national interest, which would qualify it for special funding and investment from the German government.