Techno-economic assessment of offshore wind-to-hydrogen scenarios: A UK case study

Abstract

The installed capacity, electricity generation from wind, and the curtailment of wind power in the UK between 2011 and 2021 showed that penetration levels of wind energy and the amount of energy that is curtailed in future would continue to rise whereas the curtailed energy could be utilised to produce green hydrogen. In this study, data were collected, technologies were chosen, systems were designed, and simulation models were developed to determine technical requirements and levelised costs of hydrogen produced and transported through different pathways. The analysis of capital and operating costs of the main components used for onshore and offshore green hydrogen production using offshore wind, including alternative strategies for hydrogen storage and transport and hydrogen carriers, showed that a significant reduction in cost could be achieved by 2030, enabling the production of green hydrogen from offshore wind at a competitive cost compared to grey and blue hydrogen. Among all scenarios investigated in this study, compressed hydrogen produced offshore is the most cost-effective scenario for projects starting in 2025, although the economic feasibility of this scenario is strongly affected by the storage period and the distance to the shore of the offshore wind farm. Alternative scenarios for hydrogen storage and transport, such as liquefied hydrogen and methylcyclohexane, could become more cost-effective for projects starting in 2050, when the levelised cost of hydrogen could reach values of about £2 per kilogram of hydrogen or lower.