Development of a reliable simulation framework for techno-economic analyses on green hydrogen production from wind farms using alkaline electrolyzers

Abstract

The present study investigates the feasibility of coupling the intermittent electric power generation from a wind farm with alkaline electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen. A physically accurate model of commercial electrolytic modules has been first developed, accounting for conversion efficiency drop due to modules’ cool down, effects of shutdowns due to the intermittence of wind power, and voltage degradation over the working time frame. The model has been calibrated on real modules, for which industrial data were available. Three commercial module sizes have been considered, i.e., 1, 2 and 4 MW. As a second step, the model has been coupled with historical power datasets coming from a real wind farm, characterized by a nominal installed power of 13.8 MW. Finally, the model was implemented within a sizing algorithm to find the best combination between the actual wind farm power output and the electrolyzer capacity to reach the lowest Levelized Cost Of Hydrogen (LCOH) possible. To this end, realistic data for the capital cost of the whole system (wind farm and electrolyzers) have been considered, based on industrial data and market reports, as well as maintenance costs including both periodic replacements of degraded components and periodic maintenance. Simulations showed that, if the right sizing of the two systems is made, competitive hydrogen production costs can be achieved even with current technologies. Bigger modules are less flexible but, by now, considerably cheaper than smaller ones. A future economy of scale in alkaline electrolyzers is then needed to foster the diffusion of the technology.