Electrolyser integration

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

The European Union has developed a hydrogen strategy and the REPowerEU plan. Both “have put forward a comprehensive framework to support the uptake of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen to help decarbonize the EU in a cost-effective way and reduce its dependency om imported fossil fuels”. One of the goals is to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 and import another 10 million tons. If these 10 million tonnes are produced based on renewable generation, this equals to more than 100 GWe of electrolyser capacity in the European Union. To reach net zero emissions in 2050, the IEA forecasts that in 2030 700 GWe of global electrolyser capacity is required. It will be important to integrate this electrolyser capacity into the energy system in a smart way. One approach is combined heat and hydrogen. This can improve the overall energy utilisation and reduce the levelised cost of hydrogen. However, how does it affect the location and sizing of the electrolyser? Another approach is continuous supply of hydrogen from renewable energy. What kind of flexibility should you invest in, battery energy storage system or hydrogen storage or both? What determines the most advantages design in different situations? These issues are thoroughly investigated in this project.