Green hydrogen production potential in West Africa – Case of Niger

Abstract

Niger offers the possibility of producing green hydrogen due to its high solar energy potential. Due to the still growing domestic oil and coal industry, the use of green hydrogen in the country currently seems unlikely at the higher costs of hydrogen as an energy vector. However, the export of green hydrogen to industrialized countries could be an option. In 2020, a hydrogen partnership has been established between Germany and Niger. The potential import of green hydrogen represents an option for Germany and other European countries to decarbonize domestic energy supply. Currently there are no known projects for the electrolytic production of hydrogen in Niger. In this work, potential hydrogen demand across electricity and transport sectors is forecasted until 2040. The electricity demand in 2040 is expected at 2934 GWh and the gasoline and diesel demand at 964 m3 and 2181 m3 respectively. Accordingly, the total hydrogen needed to supply electricity and the transport sector (e.g. to replace 1% gasoline and diesel demand in 2040) is calculated at 0.0117 Mt. Only a small fraction of 5% of the land area in Niger would be sufficient to generate the required electricity from solar PV to produce hydrogen.