The sustainable energy development in Southern Italy through green hydrogen: a cost analysis

Abstract

The necessary acceleration of the energy transition has prompted the European Commission and the member states to reflect more carefully on the applicability of innovative solutions in the field of sustainable energy production with a special attention to the different energy carriers and in particular hydrogen. As a matter of fact, the energy transition appears not just as a single route, but rather as a path in a very complex environment of possible choices. Policy makers in the energy field have to understand what is the best choice at all stages of the transition, making investments that will not be completely withdrawn in a few years and considering the true challenges at local level. A second aspect is indeed the involvement of the territories (Regions), that becomes a central element in the energy planning and in the deployment of the Horizon Europe program for the next years. This contribution aims to provide some food for thought for the planning of sustainable energy development in Sicily and, more generally, in Southern Italy in the context of the development of the hydrogen strategy highlighted by the European Strategic Plan in the energy sector, starting from a brief analysis of the national context. In particular, an approximate evaluation of the costs of the green hydrogen produced in Sicily for industrial applications will be made, using an alkaline commercial electrolyser powered by different sizes of photovoltaic systems and considering an on/off operation at full power of the electrolyser, neglecting the compression phase.