Power-to-Hydrogen:Technical and Economic Assessment

Abstract

Hydrogen generation by electrolysis is expected to play an important role as a crosslinking technology between power generation on one hand and transport and industry on the other hand. When produced by water electrolysis from renewable energies - such as solar or wind - hydrogen can directly replace fossil fuels in transport and industry, thereby helping in the integration of renewable energies in other energy sectors. The relevant technologies are either the mature alkaline water electrolysis or the newer proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, which exhibits higher potentials for performance enhancement and cost reduction. In this presentation, the results of the study Plan-DelyKaD are presented, which is a collaborative and comprehensive effort of several institutes in Germany to evaluate the impact of power-to-hydrogen on the energy system and also discusses the possible business cases and their profitability for different uses. The study comprises a detailed analysis of the electrolysis technology with specific plant designs, the analysis of geological salt formations and the determination of specific locations for hydrogen storage in salt caverns in Germany, the investigation of business cases for different uses of hydrogen, and the impact on the whole energy system regarding the integration of renewable energies into the power sector. Due to the limited time of the presentation only the electrolysis plant design, techno-economical aspects and some important results from the energy system analysis will be discussed.