Techno-Economic Assessment of Offshore Wind Energy-to-Electricity and Hydrogen Production Systems in Egypt and Oman: Insights for the MENA Region

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment of offshore wind-powered green hydrogen production systems in Egypt and Oman, two strategically located countries within the MENA region with substantial renewable energy potential. A 120 MW offshore wind farm configuration, employing Vestas 8 MW turbines, was simulated for each country and coupled with an electrolyzer system to evaluate electricity generation, hydrogen yield, system efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. The analysis shows that both Egypt and Oman achieve high annual capacity factors (51% and 49.7%, respectively), resulting in annual green hydrogen production of 11.5 million kg and 11.2 million kg. Despite Egypt’s more stable year-round wind profile and slightly lower Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH: $3.09/kg vs. $3.17/kg), Oman’s seasonal monsoon (Khareef) offers exceptional summer productivity, with peak capacity factors exceeding 74%. A dual-framework environmental assessment was conducted to quantify CO2 emissions mitigation. In the first scenario, based on grid substitution, the systems could avoid up to 240,000 and 256,000 tonnes of CO2 annually in Egypt and Oman, respectively. The second scenario evaluates emissions avoided by replacing conventional gray hydrogen, yielding reductions of 126,500 tCO2/year and 123,200 tCO2/year, respectively. These results highlight the flexibility of offshore hydrogen systems in addressing both electricity-sector and hydrogen-market decarbonization goals. Additionally, sensitivity analysis shows that increasing turbine hub height yields only marginal wind speed and cost improvements, suggesting limited economic justification under current site conditions. Overall, the study positions Egypt as a stable, year-round hydrogen producer and Oman as a high-output seasonal exporter, supporting a complementary regional strategy for green hydrogen leadership.