Off‐Grid Renewable Hydrogen Systems in Australia: A Multi‐Regional Techno‐Economic and Environmental Evaluations

Tushar Kanti Roy; Sajeeb Saha; Md Apel Mahmud

doi:10.1049/rpg2.70240

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Off‐Grid Renewable Hydrogen Systems in Australia: A Multi‐Regional Techno‐Economic and Environmental Evaluations

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Off‐Grid Renewable Hydrogen Systems in Australia: A Multi‐Regional Techno‐Economic and Environmental Evaluations

Tushar Kanti Roy, Sajeeb Saha and Md Apel Mahmud

IET Renewable Power Generation, Vol.20(1), pp.1-27

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1049/rpg2.70240

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Abstract

energy transition in Australia

hybrid renewable energy systems

lifecycle emissions assessment

off-grid hydrogen production

techno-economic optimization

Green hydrogen (H 2 ), produced from standalone hybrid renewable energy systems, is increasingly recognized as a sustainable substitute for diesel in remote regions. Despite substantial progress, most existing studies are limited to site‐specific analyses and lack systematic regional comparison, making it difficult to generalize techno‐economic and environmental outcomes. To address this gap, this work develops a reliability‐constrained techno‐economic and environmental evaluation framework for off‐grid renewable hydrogen production and applies it to twelve representative regions across Australia using hourly time‐series simulations over a full annual horizon. The proposed framework integrates solar photovoltaic generation, wind energy, lithium‐ion battery storage, proton‐exchange‐membrane electrolysers, hydrogen storage tanks and power conversion units within a unified modelling structure. System performance is assessed using standardized indicators, including levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), net present cost, internal rate of return (IRR) and lifecycle emissions. The results reveal strong regional variability driven primarily by renewable resource quality and hydrogen demand scale. Among the assessed regions, Pilbara achieves the lowest LCOH of $2.92/kg and the highest IRR of 7.08%. From an environmental perspective, renewable hydrogen systems reduce lifecycle emissions by up to 95% compared with conventional grey hydrogen pathways. Sensitivity analysis further identifies electrolyser capital cost and solar capacity factor as the dominant drivers of economic competitiveness. Overall, the proposed framework enables transparent cross‐regional comparison of off‐grid renewable hydrogen systems and provides decision‐relevant insights for policymakers and investors to prioritize cost‐effective, low‐carbon hydrogen deployment in remote applications.

Details

Title: Off‐Grid Renewable Hydrogen Systems in Australia: A Multi‐Regional Techno‐Economic and Environmental Evaluations
Authors: Tushar Kanti Roy - Macquarie University
Sajeeb Saha - University of the Sunshine Coast
Md Apel Mahmud (Corresponding Author) - Flinders University
Publication details: IET Renewable Power Generation, Vol.20(1), pp.1-27
Publisher: The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1049/rpg2.70240
ISSN: 1752-1424
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). IET Renewable Power Generation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991222619002621
Output Type: Journal article

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