Wind resource assessment and techno-economic analysis of wind energy and green hydrogen production in the Republic of Djibouti

The ever increasing energy demand of the Republic of Djibouti leads to the diversification of energy sources. While a few studies have explored the prospects of green hydrogen production from wind energy in developing countries and particularly in Africa, the economic risk analysis of wind power production for electricity generation and green hydrogen production has not been assessed for African countries. This study evaluates for the first time the potential of wind energy for electricity and green hydrogen production in the Republic of Djibouti. In this study, wind speed characteristics were analyzed using wind data measured at five meteorological stations from 2015 to 2019. The techno-economic analysis of five wind farms with a total capacity of 450 MW is performed. Levelized cost of energy production (LCOE), levelized cost of green hydrogen production (LCOH), sensitivity analysis, Monte Carlo simulation and economic performance indicators are presented. Results reveal that the annual wind speed varies between 5.52 m/s and 9.01 m/s for the five sites. ERA5 wind reanalysis indicates that the seasonal variability of wind is stable between different years. The proposed wind farms estimate 1739 GWh per year of electrical energy with LCOE ranging from 6.94 to 13.30 US cents/kWh, which is less than the locale electricity tariff. The production cost of green hydrogen was competitive with LCOH ranging from 1.79 to 3.38 US $/kg H-2. The sensitivity analysis shows that the most relevant parameters in the economic analysis are the initial investment cost, the interest rate and the factor capacity.(C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.