Abstract

Green hydrogen is poised to be a critical vector in the global energy transition and plays a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions and creating a global clean energy market. However, the economic viability of large-scale green hydrogen production hinges on the optimal design and location. Namibia has an excellent wind and solar energy potential, enabling a feasible, cost-effective green hydrogen production from intermittent renewable energy. This study developed a techno-economic optimization model for cost-effective green hydrogen facilities in Namibia using a single-objective genetic algorithm to determine the optimal wind, solar, and battery storage capacities needed to meet an annual production target of 355,000 tons at Luderitz, Namibia. The model runs on an hourly time-series simulation and uses a discounted cash flow method to minimize the levelized cost of hydrogen for a full year. The results of the optimized system gave a levelized cost of hydrogen of 2.50 USD/kg compared to 7.5 USD/kg obtained from a study on local hydrogen production analysis. This demonstrated the superior performance of the proposed algorithm. A sensitivity analysis was performed on the green hydrogen system, using different numbers of electrolyzers. A range of 150 to 200 units each rated 17.5 MW. Using the proposed algorithm, it was discovered optimal number of Electrolyzers that results in optimal cost of hydrogen is between 196 and 200 units. The findings demonstrated that the levelized cost of hydrogen is not just an average value, as had been demonstrated by various documented publications.