The continent’s first project that produces hydrogen from water via renewable energy sources has been completed in Morocco. Scotland’s Pure Energy Centre, Morocco’s Sahara Wind Inc., and Al Akhawayn University has developed the system that includes a storage tank, fuel cell, and hydrogen electrolyser which uses electricity to break water into hydrogen and oxygen.
The hydrogen is stored in the tank while the oxygen is released helping the system store excess wind energy. This is a major breakthrough for the continent and industry that wrestles with the energy storage obstacle particularly with renewable energy sources like wind during peak times. The system will be used to help the university maintain its energy generated by three wind turbines on campus.
Sahara Wind’s Khalid Benhamou said, “We have identified that we can reduce this issue by storing excess energy produced from renewables as hydrogen and thereafter reuse the hydrogen in a fuel cell for power generation. We feel that coupling wind and hydrogen will play an important role in Africa’s future through a variety of applications involving the continent’s main industries.”