Estimation of Green Hydrogen Production Potentials from Exploitable Hydropower Resources for Re-electrification and Climate Change Mitigation in Nigeria

Renewable energy sources like hydropower energy have the potential to play a major role in advancing the production of green hydrogen which can be used to generate electricity in remote communities where grid electricity is unavailable. Using secondary data sources, Nigeria’s outstanding total exploitable hydropower potential stands at 12,240MW from 32 sites. Considering five different hypothetical scenarios, the annual green hydrogen production potential using hydroelectric energy for electrolysis was analyzed. Furthermore, the re-electrification potential using hydrogen to independently power fuel cells was evaluated. The quantity of fossil fuel that could be replaced by using the produced hydrogen for electricity generation, as well as the corresponding greenhouse gas emissions that could be avoided, are also assessed. For the first scenario, using 100% hydroelectric energy, the result reveals that Mambilla has the highest hydrogen potential of about 286,856.3 tons/year, while Kafanchan has the lowest with a potential of about 362.2 tons/year. The total amount of green hydrogen potential from the 32 sites is about 886,646.8 tons/year which could generate about 19,634.35 GWh of electricity per annum for re-electrification. Furthermore, the results also show that a total of 6,019.04 million liters of diesel fuel could be replaced by using the produced hydrogen to power fuel cells. The total estimated carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions that will be avoided are about 16,251.41 million kg and 46.10585 million kg respectively. The study concludes that the production of green hydrogen from exploitable hydropower sites if developed, will be an opportunity to lead the country toward the utilization of green hydrogen energy as part of its energy mix, and a viable avenue for climate change mitigation.