Estimation of Green Hydrogen production potential in the Piura region from water electrolysis

In this study, the potential of green hydrogen production from water electrolysis in the Piura region has been analyzed and estimated. Three major renewable resources were considered: wind energy, solar energy, and biomass. For the wind power estimation, wind speeds collected from the NASA POWER Data Access Viewer were used, whereas for the solar power potential, solar radiation data from the PHOTOVOLTAIC GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM (PVGIS) was obtained. Finally, for the biomass potential estimation, the most recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has been used. To calculate the production of hydrogen H 2 via water electrolysis, the higher heating value (HHV) of hydrogen and overall efficiency of 75% for the proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser system were considered. This resulted in an estimated production of 947,202.28 tons of H 2 per year in the whole Piura region, with a contribution of 94.8% from solar photovoltaic energy. Additionally, the districts with the highest production potential from the three energy sources were determined. This study also found that it would be possible to cover the total energy demand of the Piura region with only 47.4% of the green hydrogen potential. Moreover, the energy consumption in the transport sector could be covered with only 20.85% of this potential, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1.6 million tons per year in the region. Other sectors, like residential, industrial, mining, or commercial, could be covered with less than 10% of the total hydrogen potential in Piura.