Waterforhydrogen production ©IRENA2023 Unlessotherwisestated,materialinthispublicationmaybefreelyused,shared,copied,reproduced,printedand/orstored,providedthatappropriateacknowledgementisgivenofIRENAasthesourceandcopyrightholder.Materialinthispublicationthatisattributedtothirdpartiesmaybesubjecttoseparatetermsofuseandrestrictions,andappropriatepermissionsfromthesethirdpartiesmayneedtobesecuredbeforeanyuseofsuchmaterial. ISBN:978-92-9260-526-1 CITATION:IRENAandBluerisk(2023),Waterforhydrogenproduction,InternationalRenewableEnergyAgency,Bluerisk,AbuDhabi,UnitedArabEmirates. ABOUTIRENA TheInternationalRenewableEnergyAgency(IRENA)isanintergovernmentalorganisationthatsupportscountriesintheirtransitiontoasustainableenergyfutureandservesastheprincipalplatformforinternationalco-operation,acentreofexcellence,andarepositoryofpolicy,technology,resourceandfinancialknowledgeonrenewableenergy.IRENApromotesthewidespreadadoptionandsustainableuseofallformsofrenewableenergy,includingbioenergy,geothermal,hydropower,ocean,solarandwindenergy,inthepursuitofsustainabledevelopment,energyaccess,energysecurityandlow-carboneconomicgrowthandprosperity. www.irena.org ABOUTBLUERISK Blueriskisawaterstrategyanddataanalyticsconsultancyfocusedonenhancingresilienceandreducingriskinthefaceofemergingwaterchallenges. www.blueriskintel.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ThereportwasdevelopedundertheguidanceofUteCollieracting-Director,IRENAKnowledgePolicyandFinanceCentreandauthoredbyEmanueleBianco(IRENA),TianyiLuo(Bluerisk),andDivyamNagpal(ex-IRENA). IRENAcolleaguesAnn-KathrinLipponer,LuisJaneiroandFranciscoBoshellprovidedvaluableinput. AnetaCornell(Ecolab),LorenzoRosa(StanfordUniversity),ChaoZhangandYinshuangXia(TongjiUniversity),providedtechnicalcontributionstothereport.MarinaMelnikovaandYuryMelnikov(Mylonastars)providedusefulcontributionsandobservations. Thereportbenefitedfromthereviewsandcommentsofexperts,includingAlistairWyness,RachaelRaid(BP),NitinBassi(CEEW),YuZhang,ZiyanSha(ChinaHydrogenEnergyIndustryPromotionAssociation),CristianCarraretto,RobertoGonzales(EBRD),AnetaCornell,EmilioTenuta(Ecolab),MassimoSantarelli(PolytechnicUniversityofTurin),AlejandroLongueira(RolandBerger)andSmeetaFokeer(UNIDO). PublicationsupportwasprovidedbyFrancisFieldandStephanieClarke(IRENA).ThereportwaseditedbyFayreMakeig,withdesignprovidedbyElkanodata. Forfurtherinformationortoprovidefeedback:publications@irena.org DISCLAIMER Thispublicationandthematerialhereinareprovided“asis”.AllreasonableprecautionshavebeentakenbyIRENAtoverifythereliabilityofthematerialinthispublication.However,neitherIRENAnoranyofitsofficials,agents,dataorotherthird-partycontentprovidersprovidesawarrantyofanykind,eitherexpressedorimplied,andtheyacceptnoresponsibilityorliabilityforanyconsequenceofuseofthepublicationormaterialherein. TheinformationcontainedhereindoesnotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofallMembersofIRENA.ThementionofspecificcompaniesorcertainprojectsorproductsdoesnotimplythattheyareendorsedorrecommendedbyIRENAinpreferencetoothersofasimilarnaturethatarenotmentioned.ThedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofmaterialhereindonotimplytheexpressionofanyopiniononthepartofIRENAconcerningthelegalstatusofanyregion,country,territory,cityorareaorofitsauthorities,orconcerningthedelimitationoffrontiersorboundaries. Tableofcontents Glossary5 Executivesummary6 Chapter1 Introductiontothehydrogen-waternexus14 Chapter2 Areviewofwaterquantityrequirements incommercial-scalehydrogenproduction21 Chapter3 Waterfootprintandrisksofglobalhydrogenproduction32 Chapter4 Deep-diveanalysesofnorthernChina,theGulfandEurope42 Chapter5 ConclusionsandRecommendations54 References59 Appendix63 Figures FigureS1Acomparisonofaveragewaterwithdrawalandconsumption7 intensitiesbyhydrogenproductiontechnology FigureS2Currentandprojectedfreshwaterwithdrawalforglobal9 hydrogenproduction,bypathway Figure2.1Schematicsofprocess-specificwaterwithdrawalandconsumption24 inlitresfortypicalhydrogentechnologiestogenerate1kilogrammeofhydrogen Figure2.2Shareofthewaterwithdrawalneedsofproductionandcooling26 intheoverallwaterdemandofhydrogenproductionexamples Figure2.3Acomparisonofaveragewaterwithdrawalandconsumption28 intensitiesbyhydrogenproductiontechnology Figure2.4Relationsbetweenhydrogenconversionefficiencyandwater30 withdrawalandconsumptionintensitiesofatypicalelectrolysisproject Figure2.5Annualwaterwithdrawaloftypicalhydrogenproductionprojects,31 thermalpowerplantsandmunicipalities Figure3.1Currentandprojectedfutureglobalhydrogenproduction33 underthe1.5°CScenario Figure3.2Currentandprojectedfreshwaterwithdrawalforglobal34 hydrogenproduction,bypathway Figure3.3Freshwaterforhydrogenproductionandcooling,todayto205036 Figure3.4Globalwaterstressconditionsandgreenandbluehydrogen38 projectlocationsfor2040 Figure3.5Distributionofglobaloperationalandplannedgreenandblue40 hydrogenproductioncapacitiesbywaterstresslevel,todayandin2040 Figure3.6Distributionofglobaloperationalandplannedgreenandblue41 hydrogenproductioncapacitiesbywaterstresslevelandregionin204