10079085Solar-hydrogen microgrid for clean electricity, fresh water and oxygen supply to hospital facilities and surrounding community in Kikori District, Papua New GuineaClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKThis project brings together BPP-TECH and FutureValue to develop a high-level design of a mini-grid solar-hydrogen system with clean water and oxygen production for a hospital facility in the Kikori District of PNG, servicing a remote population of 15,000 people. BPP-TECH will provide the technical expertise for the mini-grid solution, with FutureValue and hospital administrators of Kikori District providing key input data, considering limitations of existing infrastructure and enabling benefits of the system to be evaluated within the local context. The hospital is currently using a weak solar electrical system, with an expensive diesel generator as night-time and back-up power. There is no grid access within the target region, with 25% of households using open fires as a light source. Few households can afford diesel gensets, which are expensive to purchase and run relative to household incomes due to the prohibitive cost of diesel. Other households use small rechargeable (individual) solar lights. The Green H2 system will be modular, with a Plug & Play set-up, minimising complexity of operations and avoiding the need for external expertise to manage the system in the long-term. The produced hydrogen will be used as a clean energy storage solution to ensure a continuous power supply to the hospital facilities when electricity production from solar energy is not possible. The dissipated heat from the electrolysis process will be used to provide the hospital with hot water and the produced oxygen will be used for medical purposes. Benefits would accrue to the remote population through increased medical provisioning from reliable, renewable electricity, clean water, and oxygen for medical purposes, with particular emphasis on women and neonatal health outcomes. Associated benefits may include workforce development opportunities in support of the technology solution. There are four key innovations anticipated with this proposal: 1) develop a novel power flow and energy storage technique for the electrolysis of water using intermittent solar power; 2) use of representative mathematical models of major equipment components at high TRLs (= 7) that will enable the system to be rapidly moved to demonstration and exploitation; 3) design a modular system with Plug & Play features to minimise complexity and the need for external expertise to manage it over the long-term; 4) implement an effective way of storing and transporting hydrogen for applications in township and remote urban areas. Successful project implementation will unlock and de-risk future investments in Kikori District and similar regions.