Mapping cost-effective hydrogen production based on renewable resource potential and techno-economic analysis: a case study

Finding the optimal location for constructing a renewable-powered electrolyzer plant is fundamental to achieving cost-effective green hydrogen production. However, studies that utilize Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for this purpose commonly rely on resource availability and proximity to national infrastructure as the main techno-economic criteria. These factors, however, may not fully capture the direct impact of renewable resources on techno-economic performance. To address this gap, this study proposes a four-stage mapping approach. In the first stage, a renewable potential map determines the frequency and combination of resources across different geographical coordinates. In the second stage, techno-economic optimization is performed for each level of renewable resource availability. In the third stage, the results are used to generate new map layers in ArcGIS, including the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), plant net present cost (NPC), and electrolyzer capacity factor (CF). Finally, all economic, technical, environmental, and accessibility layers are integrated to identify the optimal location for renewable-powered hydrogen production facilities. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) weighting revealed that NPC, CF, LCOH, distance from power grid, and proximity to potential end users were the most critical criteria, each with 10–12 % importance in the final mapping. The results showed that 10.3 % of Tehran province is classified as completely appropriate and approximately 23 % as appropriate for green hydrogen production. The estimated LCOH ranges from 3.6 to 5.1 $/kg, with an electrolyzer capacity factor of 33–35 % in solar-based areas and 45–61 % in areas utilizing a combination of solar and wind power.