Abstract
The results of a techno-economic model of distributed wind-hydrogen systems (WHS) located at each existing wind farm on the island of Ireland are presented in this paper. Hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis from wind energy and backed up by grid electricity, compressed before temporarily stored, then transported to the nearest injection location on the natural gas network. The model employs a novel correlation-based approach to select an optimum electrolyser capacity that generates a minimum levelised cost of hydrogen production (LCOH) for each WHS. Three scenarios of electrolyser operation are studied: (1) curtailed wind, (2) available wind, and (3) full capacity operations. Additionally, two sets of input parameters are used: (1) current and (2) future techno-economic parameters. Additionally, two electricity prices are considered: (1) low and (2) high prices. A closest facility algorithm in a geographic information system (GIS) package identifies the shortest routes from each WHS to its nearest injection point. By using current parameters, results show that small wind farms are not suitable to run electrolysers under available wind operation. They must be run at full capacity to achieve sufficiently low LCOH. At full capacity, the future average LCOH is 6–8 €/kg with total hydrogen production capacity of 49 kilotonnes per year, or equivalent to nearly 3% of Irish natural gas consumption. This potential will increase significantly due to the projected expansion of installed wind capacity in Ireland from 5 GW in 2020 to 10 GW in 2030.
Highlights
The global installed capacity of wind energy increased by nearly four times from 2008 to 2018, accounting for a quarter of global renewable installed capacity in 2018 [1]
In terms of technical parameters, this study models proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser technology mainly due to its fast response time to intermittent power like wind, compared to alkaline or solid oxide electrolysis cells [26], which operate at higher temperatures
Electrolyser operation is modelled under three different scenarios: (1) curtailed wind operation, (2) available wind operation and (3) full capacity operation
Summary
The global installed capacity of wind energy increased by nearly four times from 2008 to 2018, accounting for a quarter of global renewable installed capacity in 2018 [1]. Wind power installed capacity in the island of Ireland rose by three times to nearly 5 GW. In 2018, 707 GWh (6%) of available wind energy was lost due to curtailment. Wind curtailment is caused by two factors: (1) low wind demand in the electricity market, and (2) low capacity of electricity networks. The low wind demand is caused by (1) must-run capacities of conventional power plants, and (2) wind supply limitation to maintain system stability [5]. Wind curtailment in Ireland may increase to 7–14% as a result of a higher penetration of wind energy in the future [6]
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