Technical assessment of green hydrogen production in Kuwait

Abstract

Kuwait has the potential to produce green hydrogen from renewable energy. Hydrogen production is receiving increased attention and has become a core research area. In Kuwait, there are various sites of average daily wind speeds exceeding 4 m/s, so they are promising for green electricity production using wind turbines. The wind power can be used to operate water electrolysers to produce hydrogen. This study is conducted to assess the opportunities and feasibility of green hydrogen production using wind power at three sites in Kuwait. The average daily wind speeds, recorded at height 10 m from the ground, were obtained for each site. A wind turbine of rated power 2.4 MW and an electrolyser of capacity 1.8 MW were used for the modelling. The power curve of the turbine was used to evaluate the wind power and the amount of produced hydrogen. The results show that Kuwait Airport site has an estimated annual production of about 300 metric tonnes. For WAFRA site, the estimated annual production was 172 metric tonnes and for ABDALY site was 145 metric tonnes. The annual average specific hydrogen production was highest for ABDALY site (15.52 kg hydrogen/kW turbine power) followed by WAFRA site (15.31 kg/kW) then Kuwait Airport site (13.24 kg/kW).