Techno-economics evaluation of electrolyser technologies: multicriteria decision making with SmartGridEval

Abstract

The global landscape of hydrogen use has witnessed significant developments. Its high energy density and ability to be stored for an extended period make it an excellent fuel for storage systems. Green hydrogen, produced through renewable electricity, is identified as a crucial complement to optimising renewable energy production via the electrolysis process and provides several benefits to the power system, including avoiding network criticalities (e.g., overvoltages and overcurrents), using the excess energy during renewable energy sources peak generation time, enhanced distribution network hosting capacity, increased system flexibility, and improved system efficiency. The technology for producing green hydrogen includes different electrolysers, such as alkaline, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM), anion exchange membrane (AEM), etc. In this paper, the appraisal of the most suitable electrolyser technology will be identified through Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) using the ISGAN SmartGridEval. The paper explores the techno-economic analysis and comparison of various key performance indicators (KPIs), such as electrolyser efficiency, electrolyser capacity, hydrogen production rate through the HySupply tool, and cost-effectiveness (operational cost, capital cost), to identify the best technology that can increase green hydrogen production by using variable RES fluctuations and analyse its impact on the hosting capacity of the power sector.