Spatial-Temporal Optimisation for Green Hydrogen Production: A Case Study of Laos

The Government of Laos seeks to expand its hydropower capacity, aiming to boost the economy by leveraging its abundant resources. However, the national energy company faces challenges such as profitability and limited negotiation ability due to international power projects. For sustainable growth, it is necessary to advance the local industry and diversify beyond electricity exports, which have proven to be a loss for Laos. A viable strategy involves producing green hydrogen via electrolysis, using Laos’s abundant water resources and renewable generation potential. Spatial-temporal optimisation is used to identify the least-cost sites for green hydrogen production by partitioning the country into hexagonal units, as defined in the GeoH2 model. In each hexagon, an algorithm identifies suitable areas for PV panels and wind turbines. Subsequently, these identified sites contribute to the optimisation of the power system to meet the annual urea demand of Laos while minimising the overall system cost and the Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). The model has been tailored to Laos, incorporating the integration of hydropower with a unique hydraulic head calculation along with a comprehensive selection of potential sites suitable for renewable energy sources based on slope. Laos can produce green hydrogen at an LCOH of 2.18 $/kg by 2030, positioning it as a competitive participant on the international market. This depends highly on the availability of hydropower, but a production output of almost 1 million tons is achievable post-2030.