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Techno-economic feasibility evaluation of a standalone solar-powered alkaline water electrolyzer considering the influence of battery energy storage system: A Korean case study

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Abstract

Hydrogen use is dominated by industry, with most hydrogen demand mitigated using fossil fuels; therefore, there is an eminent potential for the reduction of emissions by replacing fossil-derived hydrogen with a renewable hydrogen source. Although the emission reduction by using renewable energy presents a promising potential, its fluctuating nature is still a challenge to be addressed. In this study, considering a battery energy storage system (BESS), a dynamic operation-based techno-economic evaluation of a standalone solar photovoltaic (PV)-powered alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE) was conducted using actual solar data. Different process configurations were designed and simulated to quantify the available potential of a standalone solar-powered hydrogen production system in Korea. Furthermore, economic evaluation metrics, such as levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) and Monte Carlo simulation, were used to assess the potential of different configurations under variable market prices and future technology costs to estimate the future potential. The results showed that Case 1 (standalone solar-powered AWE without BESS) offers the lowest LCOH (9.55 $/kg) but with daytime operation only. Meanwhile, Case 4 (standalone solar-powered AWE with BESS) reported the second-lowest LCOH (11.67 $/kg) compared with the other cases. The results also suggested that systems with BESS can increase operational reliability by minimizing operational fluctuations and maximizing operational hours but with a slightly higher LCOH. The conducted sensitivity analysis showed that the technology cost (solar PV, AWE, and BESS) has the highest impact on LCOH, which is promising, in light of the decreasing trend in the future costs of such technologies.

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Abbreviations

PV:

photovoltaic

AWE:

alkaline water electrolyzer

BESS:

battery energy storage system

LCOH:

levelized cost of hydrogen

GHG:

greenhouse gas emissions

PEM:

proton exchange membrane

SAM:

system advisor model

SOC:

state of charge

Vrev :

reversible voltage

ΔG:

Gibbs energy

z:

number of electrons

F:

Faraday’s constant

Vcell :

cell voltage

Vact :

activation voltage

Vohm :

Ohmic overvoltage

s:

coefficient for overvoltage on electrodes [V]

I:

current

t:

coefficient for overvoltage on electrodes [A−1m2]

A:

area of cell

r:

parameter related to ohmic resistance of electrolyte [Ωm2]

f1 :

parameter related to Faraday efficiency [mA2cm−4]

f2 :

parameter related to Faraday efficiency

T:

Temperature [°C]

η F :

Faradays efficiency

\({\rm{H}}_2^{GEN}\) :

hydrogen generation

nc :

number of cells

η Ele :

efficiency of electrolyzer

P:

total power to AWE

PMIN :

minimum required power to AWE

PMAX :

maximum power to AWE

LHV:

lower heating value

H2Ocons :

water consumed

\({\rm{O}}_2^{GEN}\) :

oxygen generated

Q:

volumetric flowrate

MW:

mega watt

H2OIN :

water going in AWE

H2OOUT :

water going out of AWE

\({\rm{O}}_2^{IN}\) :

oxygen going in AWE

\({\rm{O}}_2^{OUT}\) :

oxygen going out of AWE

\({\rm{H}}_2^{IN}\) :

hydrogen going in AWE

\({\rm{H}}_2^{OUT}\) :

hydrogen going out of AWE

H2OCONS :

water consumed

H2OGEN :

water generated

\({\rm{H}}_2^{STO}\) :

hydrogen stored

PC :

charging power of BESS

PD :

discharging power of BESS

\({{\rm{P}}_{{C_{MIN}}}}\) :

minimum charging power of BESS

\({{\rm{P}}_{{C_{MAX}}}}\) :

maximum charging power of BESS

\({{\rm{P}}_{{D_{MIN}}}}\) :

minimum discharging power of BESS

\({{\rm{P}}_{{D_{MAX}}}}\) :

maximum discharging power of BESS

SOCMIN :

minimum state of charge

SOCMAX :

maximum state of charge

η + :

charging efficiency

η − :

discharging efficiency

t:

time

Ps :

solar power

A/B:

spit fractions, A for AWE, B for BESS

PA :

power split to AWE

PC :

power split to BESS

PX :

excess power generated

CI:

cost index

IRR:

internal rate of return

FCI:

fixed capital investment

TIC:

total installed cost

TLCC:

total life cycle cost

NPVOP :

net present value of other products

D:

discount rate

n:

analysis year

L:

analysis period — 30 years

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported through a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2019R1A2C2084709). This work was also supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (no. 20194010201840).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, Korea

    Haider Niaz, Mohammad Mansour Lakouraj & Jay Liu

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  1. Haider Niaz
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  2. Mohammad Mansour Lakouraj
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  3. Jay Liu
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Correspondence to Jay Liu.

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Techno-economic feasibility evaluation of a standalone solar-powered alkaline water electrolyzer considering the influence of battery energy storage system: A Korean case study

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Niaz, H., Lakouraj, M.M. & Liu, J. Techno-economic feasibility evaluation of a standalone solar-powered alkaline water electrolyzer considering the influence of battery energy storage system: A Korean case study. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 38, 1617–1630 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-021-0819-z

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