Techno-Economic Analysis of Low Carbon Hydrogen Production from Offshore Wind Using Battolyser Technology

Abstract

A battolyser is a combined battery electrolyser in one unit. It is based on flow battery technology and can be adapted to produce hydrogen at a lower efficiency than an electrolyser but without the need for rare and expensive materials. This paper presents a method of determining if a battolyser connected to a wind farm makes economic sense based on stochastic modelling. A range of cost data and operational scenarios are used to establish the impact on the NPV and LCOE of adding a battolyser to a wind farm. The results are compared to adding a battery or an electrolyser to a wind farm. Indications are that it makes economic sense to add a battolyser or battery to a wind farm to use any curtailed wind with calculated LCOE at £56/MWh to £58/MWh and positive NPV over a range of cost scenarios. However, electrolysers, are still too expensive to make economic sense.

Electrochemical hydrogen production: sustainable hydrogen economy

“…44 Numerous hydrogen production techniques, including electrolysis, have been thoroughly researched from an economic, environmental, technological, and social standpoint in the literature. 9,27,42,[45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] The electrolyser is the fundamental part of an electrolysis process for producing hydrogen (can be connected either in parallel or in series). The by-product gases, typically hydrogen and oxygen, are often cooled and compressed before being stored for multiple end uses.…”

“…44 Numerous hydrogen production techniques, including electrolysis, have been thoroughly researched from an economic, environmental, technological, and social standpoint in the literature. 9,27,42,45–58…”

“…The key renewable energy sources listed in Table 5 can be used to electrolyse seawater in a sustainable manner. 49,75,119–142…”

“…The key renewable energy sources listed in Table 5 can be used to electrolyse seawater in a sustainable manner. 49,75, Alkaline water electrolysis, proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis, and solid oxide water electrolysis (SOEC) can produce hydrogen when different electrolytes are used. 143 Key features of these techniques are described in Table 6.…”

Measuring Battery Health - Secondary cell dynamics and electrochemistry

“…This is supported by the much more resilient properties of the nickel-iron battery, mainly its ability to cope with under and overcharging. The role of the so called 'battolyser', and its techno-economic value, are being explored at Strathclyde University (Jenkins, 2022) and elsewhere, and are of considerable value Shohanuzzaman, 2014, p379) for the storage of renewable energy and in distributed energy networks. They may also have a role to play in the context of IPC, but as yet this has not been explored.…”