IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v269y2020ics0306261920305237.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A supply curve of electricity-based hydrogen in a decarbonized European energy system in 2050

Author

Listed:
  • Lux, Benjamin
  • Pfluger, Benjamin

Abstract

Alongside substituting fossil fuels with renewable energies and increasing energy efficiency, the utilization of electricity-based hydrogen or its derived synthetic fuels is a potential strategy to meet ambitious European climate protection targets. As synthetic hydrocarbons have the same chemical properties as their fossil substitutes, existing infrastructures and well-established application technologies can be retained while CO2 emissions in energy conversion, transport, industry, and residential and services can be reduced. However, the conversion processes, especially the generation of hydrogen necessary for all e-fuels, are associated with energy losses and costs. To evaluate the techno-economic hydrogen production potential and the impact of its utilization on the rest of the energy system, a supply curve of electricity-based hydrogen in a greenhouse gas emission-free European energy system in 2050 was developed. It was found that hydrogen quantities of the order of magnitude envisaged in the 1.5 °C scenarios by the European Commission's long-term strategic vision (1536–1953 TWhH2) induce marginal hydrogen production costs of over 110 €2020/MWhH2 and electrolyzer capacities of more than 615 GWel. Although the generation of these amounts of hydrogen using electrolysis provides some flexibility to the electricity system and can integrate small amounts of local surplus electricity, an additional 766 GWel of wind power and 865 GWel of solar power must be installed to cover the additional electricity demand for hydrogen production. It was furthermore found that the most important techno-economic properties of electrolyzers used in an energy system dominated by renewable energies are the ability to operate flexibly and the conversion efficiency of electricity into hydrogen. It is anticipated that the shown analysis is valuable for both policy-makers, who need to identify research, subsidy and infrastructure requirements for a future energy system, and corporate decision-makers, whose business models will be significantly affected by the future availability of electricity-based fuels.

Suggested Citation

  • Lux, Benjamin & Pfluger, Benjamin, 2020. "A supply curve of electricity-based hydrogen in a decarbonized European energy system in 2050," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:269:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920305237
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261920305237
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2019. "Publisher Correction: Economics of converting renewable power to hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(4), pages 347-347, April.
    2. Kondziella, Hendrik & Bruckner, Thomas, 2016. "Flexibility requirements of renewable energy based electricity systems – a review of research results and methodologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 10-22.
    3. Chen, Chao & Lu, Yangsiyu & Banares-Alcantara, Rene, 2019. "Direct and indirect electrification of chemical industry using methanol production as a case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C), pages 71-90.
    4. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2019. "Economics of converting renewable power to hydrogen," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(3), pages 216-222, March.
    5. Brouwer, Anne Sjoerd & van den Broek, Machteld & Zappa, William & Turkenburg, Wim C. & Faaij, André, 2016. "Least-cost options for integrating intermittent renewables in low-carbon power systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 48-74.
    6. Huber, Matthias & Dimkova, Desislava & Hamacher, Thomas, 2014. "Integration of wind and solar power in Europe: Assessment of flexibility requirements," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 236-246.
    7. Reuß, M. & Grube, T. & Robinius, M. & Preuster, P. & Wasserscheid, P. & Stolten, D., 2017. "Seasonal storage and alternative carriers: A flexible hydrogen supply chain model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 290-302.
    8. Graves, Christopher & Ebbesen, Sune D. & Mogensen, Mogens & Lackner, Klaus S., 2011. "Sustainable hydrocarbon fuels by recycling CO2 and H2O with renewable or nuclear energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 1-23, January.
    9. Gorre, Jachin & Ortloff, Felix & van Leeuwen, Charlotte, 2019. "Production costs for synthetic methane in 2030 and 2050 of an optimized Power-to-Gas plant with intermediate hydrogen storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    10. McDonagh, Shane & O'Shea, Richard & Wall, David M. & Deane, J.P. & Murphy, Jerry D., 2018. "Modelling of a power-to-gas system to predict the levelised cost of energy of an advanced renewable gaseous transport fuel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 444-456.
    11. Götz, Manuel & Lefebvre, Jonathan & Mörs, Friedemann & McDaniel Koch, Amy & Graf, Frank & Bajohr, Siegfried & Reimert, Rainer & Kolb, Thomas, 2016. "Renewable Power-to-Gas: A technological and economic review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1371-1390.
    12. Buttler, Alexander & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2018. "Current status of water electrolysis for energy storage, grid balancing and sector coupling via power-to-gas and power-to-liquids: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2440-2454.
    13. Runge, Philipp & Sölch, Christian & Albert, Jakob & Wasserscheid, Peter & Zöttl, Gregor & Grimm, Veronika, 2019. "Economic comparison of different electric fuels for energy scenarios in 2035," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 1078-1093.
    14. Felix Creutzig & Peter Agoston & Jan Christoph Goldschmidt & Gunnar Luderer & Gregory Nemet & Robert C. Pietzcker, 2017. "The underestimated potential of solar energy to mitigate climate change," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(9), pages 1-9, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi, Meng & Park, Jinwoo & Landon, Robert Stephen & Kim, Jeongdong & Liu, Yi & Moon, Il, 2022. "Continuous and flexible Renewable-Power-to-Methane via liquid CO2 energy storage: Revisiting the techno-economic potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Quarton, Christopher J. & Samsatli, Sheila, 2020. "Should we inject hydrogen into gas grids? Practicalities and whole-system value chain optimisation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    3. Corey Duncan & Robin Roche & Samir Jemei & Marie-Cécile Péra, 2022. "Techno-economical modelling of a power-to-gas system for plant configuration evaluation in a local context," Post-Print hal-03692975, HAL.
    4. Stöckl, Fabian & Schill, Wolf-Peter & Zerrahn, Alexander, 2021. "Optimal supply chains and power sector benefits of green hydrogen," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11.
    5. McDonagh, Shane & Deane, Paul & Rajendran, Karthik & Murphy, Jerry D., 2019. "Are electrofuels a sustainable transport fuel? Analysis of the effect of controls on carbon, curtailment, and cost of hydrogen," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 716-730.
    6. Janke, Leandro & McDonagh, Shane & Weinrich, Sören & Murphy, Jerry & Nilsson, Daniel & Hansson, Per-Anders & Nordberg, Åke, 2020. "Optimizing power-to-H2 participation in the Nord Pool electricity market: Effects of different bidding strategies on plant operation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 820-836.
    7. Park, Joungho & Hwan Ryu, Kyung & Kim, Chang-Hee & Chul Cho, Won & Kim, MinJoong & Hun Lee, Jae & Cho, Hyun-Seok & Lee, Jay H., 2023. "Green hydrogen to tackle the power curtailment: Meteorological data-based capacity factor and techno-economic analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    8. Kirchem, Dana & Schill, Wolf-Peter, 2023. "Power sector effects of green hydrogen production in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    9. Gunther Glenk & Stefan Reichelstein, 2022. "Reversible Power-to-Gas systems for energy conversion and storage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Gorre, Jachin & Ruoss, Fabian & Karjunen, Hannu & Schaffert, Johannes & Tynjälä, Tero, 2020. "Cost benefits of optimizing hydrogen storage and methanation capacities for Power-to-Gas plants in dynamic operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    11. Schlund, David & Theile, Philipp, 2021. "Simultaneity of green energy and hydrogen production: Analysing the dispatch of a grid-connected electrolyser," EWI Working Papers 2021-10, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    12. Tubagus Aryandi Gunawan & Alessandro Singlitico & Paul Blount & James Burchill & James G. Carton & Rory F. D. Monaghan, 2020. "At What Cost Can Renewable Hydrogen Offset Fossil Fuel Use in Ireland’s Gas Network?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Fambri, Gabriele & Diaz-Londono, Cesar & Mazza, Andrea & Badami, Marco & Sihvonen, Teemu & Weiss, Robert, 2022. "Techno-economic analysis of Power-to-Gas plants in a gas and electricity distribution network system with high renewable energy penetration," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    14. Klöckner, Kai & Letmathe, Peter, 2020. "Is the coherence of coal phase-out and electrolytic hydrogen production the golden path to effective decarbonisation?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    15. Martin Thema & Tobias Weidlich & Manuel Hörl & Annett Bellack & Friedemann Mörs & Florian Hackl & Matthias Kohlmayer & Jasmin Gleich & Carsten Stabenau & Thomas Trabold & Michael Neubert & Felix Ortlo, 2019. "Biological CO 2 -Methanation: An Approach to Standardization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-32, May.
    16. Schlund, David & Theile, Philipp, 2022. "Simultaneity of green energy and hydrogen production: Analysing the dispatch of a grid-connected electrolyser," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    17. Carlson, Ewa Lazarczyk & Pickford, Kit & Nyga-Łukaszewska, Honorata, 2023. "Green hydrogen and an evolving concept of energy security: Challenges and comparisons," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    18. Huang, Danji & Xiong, Binyu & Fang, Jiakun & Hu, Kewei & Zhong, Zhiyao & Ying, Yuheng & Ai, Xiaomeng & Chen, Zhe, 2022. "A multiphysics model of the compactly-assembled industrial alkaline water electrolysis cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    19. Gawlick, Julia & Hamacher, Thomas, 2023. "Impact of coupling the electricity and hydrogen sector in a zero-emission European energy system in 2050," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    20. Blanco, Herib & Faaij, André, 2018. "A review at the role of storage in energy systems with a focus on Power to Gas and long-term storage," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1049-1086.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:269:y:2020:i:c:s0306261920305237. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.