Electrolyzer costs

Finally, the medium-term preference for dean over green is reinforced by cost considerations. We have shown that hydrogen produced from green electricity will only become affordable once major cost reductions in both green electricity and electrolyzer cost have been accomplished. Only biomass may - in specific regions - offer earlier opportunities for green hydrogen . 

The impact of this difference in electrolyzer cost on the system cost is shown in Figure 12. The program goal of 100/KW allowed for some difficulties in achieving all of the calculated cost bogies,and, with today s technology, it appears that the capital cost for a 58 KW system could be approximately 118/KW compared with the 100/KW goal. 

Electrolyzer cost High High High High... 

Since photoelectrochemical hydrogen production is in an embryonic stage, a parallel effort to reduce the cost of electricity production from PV modules must be made. A substantial reduction in PV module cost (lower than 0.5/Wp) coupled with similar reductions in electrolyzer costs (about 125/kW at reasonable high efficiency of about 70 percent on a lower heating value basis) can provide hydrogen at reasonable cost. The potential research opportunities listed in the preceding subsection for PV solar cells along with electrolyzers must be actively explored. 

While the produced hydrogen can be sold as a versatile fuel on the market, it can also serve as a storage medium for electrical energy in the power system (see Sect. 2.3). As a consequence both kinds of use are in competition. A sensitivity analysis of electrolyzer costs and market prices of hydrogen is conducted. Based on this analysis, the main drivers for the potential of electrolytically produced hydrogen until 2050 are identified. 

Fig. 2.4 Comparison of hydrogen production for 2040 (top) and 2050 (bottom) with regard to the variation of electrolyzer costs (left 1000 /kW, right 300 /kW) and the achievable price on the hydrogen market...

Earlier years are not presented, as under the assumption of electrolyzer costs of 1000 /kW both the storage and the sale of hydrogen are only relevant after 2030. In case of investment costs of 300 /kW, the sale of hydrogen on the market aheady becomes relevant between the years 2020 and 2030. 

By comparing the graphs for the years 2040 and 2050, it becomes evident that the amount of hydrogen sold increases more strongly than the amount which is stored and reconverted. This behaviour is more distinct for lower electrolyzer costs. Moreover, in 2050 the sale of hydrogen becomes profitable at price levels which do not provide sufficient incentives in 2040. 

Due to economic reasons, hydrogen is produced at times of low electricity costs. As already mentioned, electricity generation is cheapest when there is surplus generation from RES and CHP. At all other times, electricity costs are determined by conventional power plants and their fuel costs. The right bar in Fig. 2.6 shows the electricity mix of electrolyzers in 2050, assuming a scenario with electrolyzer costs of 1000 /kW and a hydrogen market price of 30 /MWhH2- For comparison, the bar on the left shows the overall electricity mix in 2050. The share of priority feed-in from RES and CHP is approximately 95 % in the overall electricity... 

Fig. 2.6 Share of generation technologies in overall electricity generation and in electricity consumption of electrolyzers in 2050 (assuming electrolyzer costs of 1000 /kW and a market value of hydrogen of 30 /MWhH2)...

For the network-independent production of hydrogen based on a much smaller wind turbine with an installed capacity of 6 kWe and PEM electrolysis of 2 kWe, G6k ek et al. [10] calculated values of US 12-16 per kg. For the same turbine with network-coupled operation of the electrolyzer, costs of US 0.30-4 per kg were determined [10]. These values according to [10] are based on a hub height of 36 m. The annual amount of hydrogen produced is 104 kg/year for network-independent operation. 

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