GIS-based site suitability assessment for green hydrogen production in the Norrbotten County

Abstract

The swift industrial transformation in Northern Sweden is closely linked to the huge potential for green hydrogen utilisation. With the hard-to-abate and carbon-intensive iron and steel industry championing the utilization of green hydrogen towards achieving fossil-free iron and steel production in the region, the Norrbotten County has emerged as the pioneer for promoting potentially large green hydrogen projects and a market across various industries which includes the marine and transportation sector along with the main iron and steel industry. Furthermore, the rich availability of resources such as land, water, renewable energy potential and locally produced green electricity brings down the cost in the region potentially making it geographically and economically ideal to establish large-scale green hydrogen projects. These are the key motivators for my study.

To enable such a transition and scalability, it is crucial to analyse multiple geographical factors influencing the decision-making for establishing green hydrogen projects mainly renewable potential in the vicinity, proximity to key resources and demand points, existing grid support, underground geology suitability for storage and proximity to restricted and protected zones. The study primarily generates a site suitability map using a GIS-based Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) which is expected to provide reasonably good pointers for making viable green hydrogen business cases mainly to cater to the iron and steel industry and also to other potential beneficiaries in the county. Once the site suitability is established, a thorough green hydrogen demand analysis is undertaken considering theoretical hydrogen demand estimations, electrolyser efficiency, and associated electricity and water requirements to achieve the envisaged fossil-free transformation. The study also forecasts the sufficiency of surface water resources and highlights the need for additional electricity provision plans to meet the growing green hydrogen demand in the Norrbotten County.