A study on the technical and economic feasibility of green hydrogen production in a sanitary and heating technology company

Abstract

The industry needs to play a vital role in the energy transition and hydrogen can provide a key element on the road to a sustainable future. By integrating green hydrogen, energy-intensive processes can be converted in a climate-friendly way. The topic of hybrid renewable energy generation in combination with green hydrogen production with simultaneous consumption of electricity and hydrogen on a large scale has not yet been sufficiently investigated. This study aims to help to narrow this gap in the literature by investigating how an industrial company can convert its complex, energy-intensive system to an autarkic model utilizing renewable energies and green hydrogen to cover the dark doldrums. The research focuses on optimizing the system, consisting of an electrolyzer with hydrogen storage and a fuel cell, in interaction with wind turbines and photovoltaic systems. The intention is to optimize the system in such a way that self-consumption of electricity and hydrogen is covered as far as possible, while producing additional green hydrogen with the surplus electricity for potential business opportunities. The modelling and optimization were carried out using the HOMER software and a custom-developed time-discrete simulation that was precisely tailored to the restrictions of the system. The results indicate that the company can achieve a degree of autarky of around 90% while producing a surplus of hydrogen that accounts for around 30% of the total hydrogen produced. The study demonstrates the promising potential of hybrid solutions with green hydrogen to shape the transition to a sustainable future.