TY - JOUR

T1 - Is Africa ready for green hydrogen energy takeoff? – A multi-criteria analysis approach to the opportunities and barriers of hydrogen production on the continent

AU - Agyekum, Ephraim bonah

N1 - The research funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation is gratefully acknowledged: Grant number: FEUZ-2022-0031. The research funding from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Grant number: N 975.42. Young Scientist laboratory.323/22.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Hydrogen is mostly seen as a potential universal fuel that can be used in place of fossil fuels. Africa has been identified as a potential key player in the production of green hydrogen not only for itself but also for other countries in Europe. There are however several factors that may either positively or negatively affect the development of green hydrogen on the continent. This study identified some opportunities and barriers to the production of green hydrogen in Africa and used the multi-criteria decision-making approach to prioritize them. The study identified the opportunity to export to EU market (20.90%), availability of RE resources (34.88%), youthful population (13.95%), Agenda 2063 (9.30%), and ammonia production (20.90%) as some of the opportunities available on the continent. The availability of RE resources was selected as the highest opportunity for the development of hydrogen energy in Africa. High cost of hydrogen (11.78%), dealing with the status-quo (8.82%), corruption in the energy sector (4.52%), land availability issues (7.06%), political instabilities and insecurity in certain parts of the continent (11.76%), lack of the needed skills and education (11.76%), limited supporting infrastructure and financing (15.38%), and lack of the needed regulatory and legal framework (28.95%) were identified as some of the barriers that could affect the development and use of hydrogen in Africa. The study recommends regional and country level policies and cooperation among the various blocs in Africa as an important tool to remove barriers that could hinder the deployment of hydrogen energy on the continent.

AB - Hydrogen is mostly seen as a potential universal fuel that can be used in place of fossil fuels. Africa has been identified as a potential key player in the production of green hydrogen not only for itself but also for other countries in Europe. There are however several factors that may either positively or negatively affect the development of green hydrogen on the continent. This study identified some opportunities and barriers to the production of green hydrogen in Africa and used the multi-criteria decision-making approach to prioritize them. The study identified the opportunity to export to EU market (20.90%), availability of RE resources (34.88%), youthful population (13.95%), Agenda 2063 (9.30%), and ammonia production (20.90%) as some of the opportunities available on the continent. The availability of RE resources was selected as the highest opportunity for the development of hydrogen energy in Africa. High cost of hydrogen (11.78%), dealing with the status-quo (8.82%), corruption in the energy sector (4.52%), land availability issues (7.06%), political instabilities and insecurity in certain parts of the continent (11.76%), lack of the needed skills and education (11.76%), limited supporting infrastructure and financing (15.38%), and lack of the needed regulatory and legal framework (28.95%) were identified as some of the barriers that could affect the development and use of hydrogen in Africa. The study recommends regional and country level policies and cooperation among the various blocs in Africa as an important tool to remove barriers that could hinder the deployment of hydrogen energy on the continent.

UR - https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=tsmetrics&SrcApp=tsm_test&DestApp=WOS_CPL&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=001135028500001

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=8YFLogxK&scp=85167829492

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.07.229

DO - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.07.229

M3 - Article

VL - 49

SP - 219

EP - 233

JO - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

JF - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

SN - 0360-3199

ER -