Sector coupling potential of wind-based hydrogen production and fuel cell train operation in regional rail transport in Berlin and Brandenburg.

Kurzfassung

In recent years, the concept of decarbonizing the transport sector using wind-based hydrogen as a means of sector-coupling has been widely discussed. In Germany, after 2020, wind park operators will gradually cease to receive subsidies for a large share of the installed onshore wind power, as funding is limited to 20 years. For many windmills it is unclear, whether a profitable operation without funding is possible. Furthermore, the remaining diesel operated rail passenger service is ought to be largely decarbonized. Since track-side electrification is expensive and associated with complex and time-consuming approval procedures, using fuel-cell powered trains could be a viable alternative. Whether it is possible to use energy from track-adjacent aged windmills to provide hydrogen for these trains is currently in discussion. In this study I assess the regional potential of on-site wind-based hydrogen as a substitute to diesel in regional rail transport using a GIS approach in conjunction with a site-level cost model. For this, I consider windmills ceasing to be eligible for the public funding feed-in compensation and diesel operated regional passenger train networks in the region of Berlin and Brandenburg, Germany. Hydrogen unit production costs mainly depend on the potential hydrogen consumption volume, the site locations and the available adjacent wind power. The costs are estimated considering capital and operational expenditures for electrolysis, compression, storage and distribution, the length of potential pipelines and electric transmission cables, and landscape related costs and financing costs. Due to a combined 10.1 million annual diesel-fueled train kilometers resulting in an estimated overall diesel consumption of 7.3 million liters, a hydrogen demand of 1982 annual tons could be generated. Until 2030, 4100 MW of installed wind power capacity will cease to receive EEG feed-in compensation, of which 1004 MW are unlikely to experience repowering for legislative and administrative reasons. Hydrogen production costs of approximately 6.35 €/kg can be achieved on favorable sites. Assuming a future price decrease and efficiency increase for water electrolysis, hydrogen costs of 6 €/kg and below could be achieved on annually 6.27 million train kilometers with an overall annual hydrogen consumption of 926 tons. These results suggest that hydrogen could add to decarbonizing the public transport sector in Germany.