Offshore Wind-Driven Hydrogen Production in Morocco: Evaluating Reverse Osmosis-Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis Against Direct Seawater Electrolysis
Mohamed Reda EL AOUNI, Salma SEDKI, Omar BOUZIDI
Abstract. Green hydrogen production is a key element for Morocco’s energy transition but is limited by high electricity costs and freshwater scarcity. This paper evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of offshore wind-powered hydrogen production in Dakhla, Morocco. A site-specific wind assessment using hourly data is performed to estimate annual energy production and the levelized cost of electricity, which is then coupled with a conventional reverse osmosis-proton exchange membrane (RO-PEM) system to calculate hydrogen production and its levelized cost of hydrogen. A constrained sensitivity analysis is also conducted for direct seawater electrolysis (SWE). Results show that a single offshore wind turbine produces 3.385 GWh annually with an LCOE of 0.0285 USD/kWh, leading to an LCOH of 4.36 USD/kg for RO-PEM. As for the direct SWE, it achieves higher hydrogen yields and reduces the LCOH by 22.7%, highlighting its potential as a water efficient option for green hydrogen production in Morocco.
Keywords
Green Hydrogen, Direct Seawater Electrolysis, SWE, Proton Exchange Membrane, Techno-Economic Analysis, Offshore Wind, LCOE, Levelized Cost of Hydrogen, LCOH, Economies of Scale, Morocco, Dakhla
Published online 4/25/2026, 12 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Mohamed Reda EL AOUNI, Salma SEDKI, Omar BOUZIDI, Offshore Wind-Driven Hydrogen Production in Morocco: Evaluating Reverse Osmosis-Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolysis Against Direct Seawater Electrolysis, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 64, pp 123-134, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904091-16
The article was published as article 16 of the book Energy Futures
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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