A techno-economic evaluation of solar-powered green hydrogen production for sustainable energy consumption in Belgium

Abstract

This study focuses on the production and consumption of solar-powered green hydrogen in Belgium by comparing the costs of domestic production with those of imports from Morocco and Namibia. The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) is determined via a techno-economic assessment considering various parameters including, power connectivity, electrolyzer types, location factors, and risk premium. The results show that the lowest LCOH can be achieved by on-grid Proton exchange membrane electrolyzers (PEMEL). LCOH of production in Belgium, Morocco, and Namibia with a PEMEL on-grid system are 5.64, 6.32 and 5.13 €/kg H2, respectively. Thus, importing hydrogen from Namibia to Belgium is more competitive than domestic production. The sensitivity analysis suggests that a target LCOH of 3 €/kg H2 is achievable by importing from Namibia through various cost combinations. One of these combinations involves reducing the cost of PV panels to 222.3 €/kW (70% reduction) and electrolyzers to 363.3 €/kW (25% reduction).