Djibouti

The Republic of Djibouti has untapped potential in terms of renewable energy resources such as geothermal wind and solar energy. This study examines the economic feasibility of green hydrogen production by water electrolysis using wind and geothermal energy resources in the Asal–Ghoubbet Rift (AG Rift) Republic of Djibouti. It is the first study in Africa that compares the cost per kg of green hydrogen produced by wind and geothermal energy from a single site. The unit cost of electricity produced by the wind turbine (0.042 $/kWh) is more competitive than that of a dry steam geothermal plant (0.086 $/kWh). The cost of producing hydrogen with a suitable electrolyzer powered by wind energy ranges from $0.672/kg H2 to $1.063/kg H2 while that produced by the high-temperature electrolyzer (HTE) powered by geothermal energy ranges from $3.31/kg H2 to $4.78/kg H2 . Thus the AG Rift area can produce electricity and green hydrogen at low-cost using wind energy compared to geothermal energy. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions reduced by using a “Yinhe GX113-2.5MW” wind turbine and a single flash geothermal power plant instead of fuel-oil generators is 2061.6 tons CO2/MW/year and 2184.8 tons CO2/MW/year respectively.

Disputed supply chains inappropriate weather and low investment followed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a phenomenal energy crisis especially in the Horn of Africa. Accordingly proposing eco-friendly and sustainable solutions to diversify the access of electricity in the Republic of Djibouti which has no conventional energy resources and is completely energy dependent on its neighboring countries has become a must. Therefore the implementation of sustainable renewable and energy storage systems is nationally prioritized. This paper deals for the first time with the exploitation of such an affordable and carbon-free resource to produce hydrogen from wind energy in the rural areas of Nagad and Bara Wein in Djibouti. The production of hydrogen and the relevant CO2 emission reduction using different De Wind D6 Vestas and Nordex wind turbines are displayed while using Alkaline and Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers. The Bara Wein and Nagad sites had a monthly wind speed above 7 m/s. From the results the Nordex turbine accompanied with the alkaline electrolyzer provides the most affordable electricity production approximately 0.0032 $/kWh for both sites; this cost is about one per hundred the actual imported hydroelectric energy price. Through the ecological analysis the Nordex turbine is the most suitable wind turbine with a CO2 emission reduction of 363.58 tons for Bara Wein compared to 228.76 tons for Nagad. While integrating the initial cost of wind turbine implementation in the capital investment the mass and the levelized cost of the produced green hydrogen are estimated as (29.68 tons and 11.48 $/kg) for Bara Wein with corresponding values of (18.68 tons and 18.25 $/kg) for Nagad.