Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 will require the development and support of multiple decarbonization strategies, focusing on the improvement of existing technologies and the strategic development of new ones. In this context, hydrogen will play a crucial role in the coming decades; in particular, the use of green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy, is a key global priority.

The main objective of the report is to study North Africa’s potential for the production and trade of green hydrogen, from solar and wind, through the use of a spatial multi-criteria decision support approach (capable of spatially evaluating several criteria belonging to the social, techno-economic, political and environmental domains). Looking at the results, Algeria has the highest share of suitable areas for hydrogen production from solar, while Morocco and Western Sahara are more suitable for wind resources, although political tensions have a negative impact on the overall suitability.

Based on specific assumptions and techno-economic datasets, the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) in North Africa and Italy is then calculated, focusing on its production from solar and wind resources by electrolyzers. Alkaline (ALK), polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), and solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) are analyzed.

Studying the evolution of production costs from 2020 to 2050, it is found that the production of hydrogen from solar energy is cheaper in Italy than in North African countries, while for hydrogen from wind, Morocco is identified as the cheapest. For electrolyzers, alkalines are also found to outperform PEMs in the coming decades, while different technological paths are considered for SOEC technology due to uncertainties in its development.

Finally, this report provides a preliminary analysis of transportation and storage options, with an evaluation of possible alternatives and a focus on pipeline transportation.

Through the methods applied and the results obtained, this report allows an assessment of the potential for green hydrogen production and trade from North Africa and Italy, highlighting how various factors influence the identification of potential optimal solutions.