Analysis of the yield and production cost of large-scale electrolytic hydrogen from different solar technologies and under several Moroccan climate zones

The objective of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the green hydrogen production by the mean of water electrolysis from different solar energy systems and under different climate conditions in Morocco. To this end, simulation of four solar power plants configurations -with a nominal capacity of 100 MWe from different technologies (fixed PV, 1 axis tracking PV, 2 axis tracking PV, and Stirling Dish) coupled with a PEM electrolyzer has been done. For the sake of precision, 3 years average of high quality meteorological data measured in-situ and at 5 different locations were used as simulation inputs. To have an idea about the potential of Morocco in the green hydrogen production market, we benchmarked the simulation results against the ones from Almeria, Spain and Stellenbosch, South Africa. Results show that for almost all sites, the 1 axis tracking PV system is the optimal technology -from techno-economic aspect-for green Hydrogen production in Morocco, even though the 2 axis tracking PV systems can generate the highest amounts of hydrogen (similar to 4500 Tons/year), the fixed PV has the lowest LCOH2 (5.8 $/Kg) and the Stirling Dish is the most efficient one (similar to 12%). Besides, Morocco can be considered as a very competitive country for green hydrogen production (especially for PV technology) with an LCOH2 of 5.57 $/Kg, against 5,96$/Kg in Southern Spain and 6,51$/Kg for south Africa. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.