Abstract
Accelerating the global transition toward zero-carbon energy vectors necessitates scalable, decentralized green hydrogen production frameworks. Arid coastal regions present an exceptional convergence of high-yield offshore wind resources and expansive territorial coastlines, yet they are intrinsically constrained by acute freshwater scarcity. This study provides a comprehensive techno-economic assessment of a 1 GW offshore wind farm coupled with proton exchange membrane (PEM) and alkaline (AEL) electrolyzers integrated with seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination systems. Utilizing high-resolution hourly meteorological datasets from representative arid coastal zones, dynamic process simulation models were developed to evaluate system efficiencies, water treatment penalties, and operational flexibility under fluctuating offshore wind power profiles. The baseline levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) was calculated at $3.84/kg for AEL and $4.18/kg for PEM systems under current capital expenditure baselines, with SWRO desalination contributing less than 1.8% to the total capital expenditure and adding merely $0.038/kg to the operational cost. Techno-economic projections demonstrate that with technology maturation, electrolyzer stack degradation mitigation, and reduced weighted average cost of capital (WACC), the LCOH can decrease to $2.08/kg by 2035. These findings demonstrate that freshwater constraints do not pose an economic or energetic barrier to large-scale green hydrogen deployment in hyper-arid coastal environments.
