Technical assessment of floating photovoltaic systems for green hydrogen production in the Someş-Tisa hydrographic basin, Romania

This study assesses the technical potential of floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems on six reservoirs within the Someş-Tisa hydrographic basin, Romania, for green hydrogen production based on local solar energy availability. The assessment integrates reservoir surface characterization, climatic datasets obtained from the Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS), solar geometry and irradiance transposition modeling, temperature-dependent FPV performance, and electrolytic hydrogen production modeling. The FPV performance model accounts for ambient temperature, solar irradiance, wind speed, and water temperature. Assuming a uniform reservoir surface coverage of 15% and an FPV installation density of 1.1 MWp/ha, the estimated installed FPV capacities range from 10.67 to 117.40 MWp, corresponding to annual electricity generation of 13.77 - 136.25 GWh. Based on an alkaline electrolyzer specific energy consumption of 4.5 kWh/Nm 3 H 2 , the resulting green hydrogen production ranges from approximately 3.06 to 30.28 million Nm 3 H 2 /year, equivalent to about 275 - 2721 tonnes H 2 /year. Among the six analyzed reservoirs, Fântânele presents the highest estimated hydrogen production potential, primarily due to its larger available installation area. The results provide a consistent comparison of FPV-powered hydrogen production across the analyzed reservoirs and quantify the technical production potential within this common modeling scenario. These estimates do not imply directly deployable capacity or project-level feasibility and require site-specific validation before practical implementation.