Decarbinising Saudi Arabia: Integrating Solar Photovoltaic Panels with Electrolysers for Green Hydrogen Production

Abstract

The rate of consumption of energy produced from coal, oil, and natural gas rose to 140,231 TWh between 1900 and 2023, a rise of over 1000%. This devastating increase impacted the global average temperature and exacerbated the threat of climate change. This study highlights multiple solutions to mitigate these threats, including using decarbonisation strategies, and transitioning to renewable sources. It discusses the adoption of renewable energy sources for large-scale green hydrogen production, especially in the hybrid integration of solar photovoltaic panels with electrolysers to help reduce Saudi Arabia’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reliance on fossil fuel consumption. The study evaluates integrated systems installed in Tabuk and Makkah in Saudi Arabia. The researcher modelled integrated systems on HOMER Pro to configure their feasible capacities and their hydrogen production to calculate their savings on GHG emissions and diesel fuel consumption, contrasting them with diesel power plants in the two regions. The findings showed that savings of GHG emissions amounted to 49,703 tonnesCO2eq/year in Tabuk and 50,152 tonnesCO2eq/year in Makkah. In addition, savings of diesel fuel consumption were calculated that amounted to 19,999,751 litres/year in Tabuk and 20,180,241 litres/year in Makkah. It also applied mathematical modelling to analyse the levelised cost of the hydrogen (LCOH) produced in Tabuk and Makkah, which was measured at $2.05/kg and $2.50/kg, respectively. In addition to the LCOH analysis, Tabuk’s system LCOH was analysed using varying purchase prices of electricity (LCOE) produced from a solar power plant, assuming the solar power plant was not accounted for among the project liability, using a comparative sensitivity analysis of different energy consumption by the PEM electrolysers. The findings demonstrate the feasibility and economic viability of green hydrogen production as a sustainable energy solution for Saudi Arabia.