Hydrogen energy potential of Nepal

Abstract

Nepal is very rich in hydropower. Unfortunately, due to the mountainous topography it is difficult to build a comprehensive electrical grid. Only 30% of the population (primarily in urban areas) currently has access to electricity from the national grid and about 5% from non-grid (micro-hydropower and solar). In addition the power is seasonal, resulting in poor “load factor”. On a seasonal basis, the power generated by large hydropower stations during the summer surpasses the peak demand of the country. The peak load varies from 400 MW to 560 MW from 17:00 to 21:00 hours. The maximum demand recorded on December 8, 2004 was 557.53 MW at 18:16 hour. Thus, the widespread hydroelectric potential is not effectively utilized.

One of the methods to utilize the available power is production of hydrogen by electrolysis using hydropower, a clean source of renewable energy. Nepal is very rich in perennial rivers and has a potential of 83,000 MW of which 43,000 MW of it is considered economically viable. Only about 550 MW (∼1%) of this potential has been harnessed till now.

This paper highlights possibilities of generation of hydrogen from the existing hydropower plants during off-peak load and utilization of this hydrogen energy to replace the existing fossil fuels used in transportation, cooking and lighting and to meet the growing peak electricity demand by generating electricity using fuel cell in future. Different scenarios of utilization of hydropower during off-peak load have been forecasted and possible replacement of conventional fuels by hydrogen has been discussed.

Introduction

Nepal is situated in the Himalayan Mountain Range between India and China and has numerous river systems that flow from high altitude mountains in north to the plain in south of the country making it one of the most hydropower resourceful countries in the world. Unfortunately, the mountainous topography also makes it difficult to build a comprehensive electrical grid. And about 30% of the population (primarily in urban areas) currently has access to electricity from national grid and about 5% from non-grid (micro-hydropower and solar). In addition the power is seasonal, resulting in poor “load factor”. The power generated by large hydropower stations during the summer rainy sessions surpasses the peak demand that varies from 400 MW to 560 MW between 17:00 and 21:00 hours, of the country. The maximum demand recorded was on December 8, 2004, it was 557.53 MW at 18:16 hour [1]. Thus, the widespread hydroelectric potential is not effectively utilized causing a financial loss to the country.

Hence to overcome this hurdle, hydrogen can be introduced as a renewable energy carrier. One of the methods of producing hydrogen is via electrolysis process of water using electricity of hydropower, a clean source of renewable energy. Nepal is very rich in perennial rivers and has a potential of 83,000 MW, of which 43,000 MW is considered economically viable. Only about 550 MW (∼1%) of this potential has been harnessed till now. The entire vehicle transportation in Nepal run on fossil fuels, entirely imported from third counties. These fuels when combusted with air in an engine produce harmful emissions gases. These exhausted gases deteriorate atmospheric air and cause harmful impact on health of habitants of urban areas. Even with the introduction of stringent vehicle emission standards, the total amount of pollutants have not been decreased as the numbers of vehicles are increasing continuously. This is because people tend to buy their own vehicles as their income grows. This trend is very common in the developing countries. Thus, the number of vehicles is sure to increase in the near future. According to Department of Transport Management, Ministry of Labour and Transport Management there were 432,264 vehicles registered in Nepal till fiscal year 2003–2004. More than 50% of them are registered in Bagmati Zone and most of them ply in Kathmandu Valley. Many of these vehicles are of old models and do not get regular maintenance [2]. Similarly, there are many stationary power plants that use fossil fuel. This also generates more pollutants in the atmosphere. In addition, many urban as well as rural people are dependent on kerosene for cooking and lighting.

Therefore, the paper will investigate the potential to produce hydrogen from the surplus electricity of the hydropower during off-peak load [3] in order to replace the growing demand of petroleum products, and reduce greenhouse gases and emissions using hydrogen as a fuel for transportation.