HOW CAN GREEN HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGIES CHANGE THE FUTURE OF

HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL?

Access to power is a key pillar for human wellbeing, monetary improvement and poverty
alleviation. Ensuring the required quantity to each and every customer is an ongoing and urgent
international venture for typical development. This grant is made viable to buyers with the aid of
a number of strength sources (renewable or non-renewable). Of these sources, historic and
modern strength structures are dominated via fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) which produce
carbon dioxide and different greenhouse gases- the imperative driver of world local weather
change. If we are to meet our world local weather goals and keep away from hazardous local
weather change, the world wants a sizeable and concerted transitions in its strength source. In
this situation, the transition element i.e. Renewable power stays way under the curve in phrases
of consumption and production, in spite of having a surplus potential.

Balancing the project between improvement and surroundings consequently gives us with an last
intention of making sure all of us has ample get entry to sufficient sustainable power to preserve
a excessive fashionable of living.

This state of affairs of world power consumption additionally replicates in context of our
country, Nepal. Being on of the state with absolute best doable of renewable energy, we
nonetheless lag in phrases of its consumption and production. Although, the tables have grew to
become in assessment to historical times, however we are nevertheless to gain a suited stability
on this issue. Entitled as the 2d richest us of a in water resources, we have a cumbersome
workable of manufacturing of inexperienced smooth energy, which is one of the most
environment friendly sources of electricity in phrases of environmental as properly as financial
factor.

Green hydrogen is essentially hydrogen produced from renewable strength sources. It’s the
amplest element- it’s estimated that 90% of all the atoms are hydrogen atoms, comprising round
three quarters of complete mass in universe. According to nomenclature used via market lookup
from Wood Mackenzie, most of the fuel that is in use is both brown, if it is made from the
gasification of coal or ignite; or grey if it is made via steam methane reformation, which
generally makes use of herbal gasoline as feedstock. Neither of these methods is precisely
carbon-friendly. Green hydrogen is for this reason the whole thing we want to focal point on for
cleaner and greener planet.

There are no herbal hydrogen deposits on earth, it has to be extracted from different compounds
by using a chemical process. The enormous majority of industrial hydrogen is presently
produced from herbal fuel thru a system acknowledged as steam methane reforming or SMR.
Hydrogen can additionally be produced through the electrolysis of water (using an electric
powered contemporary to spoil water, into its thing factors of hydrogen and oxygen). And as a
result, this hydrogen produced from renewable sources (Solar PV or wind turbine or
hydropower) is termed as inexperienced hydrogen.

In context of Nepal, we are notably structured upon bio fuels in phrases of each grant and
consumption as proven below:

Figure 1: Total Primary Energy Supply as of 2017

 Figure 2: Total Final Consumption as of 2017

This shows that we are still a consumer of unclean energy despite having a huge potential of
green hydrogen production via hydropower. Not only an economic loss but this has been
showing adverse effect on our environmental condition and is expected to have a major damage
in near future.

Figure 3: Share of CO2 emission by various energy end-use sectors

Among the methods of hydrogen productions, technically green hydrogen from hydropower
(because of abundant hydro resources and surplus electricity during wet season) is the most
suitable method. In our context, hydrogen value chain should be based on hydrogen production
from surplus hydropower that otherwise would have been curtailed during dry season
(“hydrogen-to-power”), to power FCEVs (“hydropower-to-mobility”), or a combination of both
applications.
 Figure 4: Potential Hydrogen value chain in Nepal

In simple terms, due to availability of abundant hydropower which is a method for green
hydrogen production, we could upgrade from ongoing use of energy source to better and clean
energy source which could be a major merit to economic as well as environmental aspect of
Nepal.