The techno-economics potential of hydrogen interconnectors for electrical energy transmission and storage

Patel, Max; Roy, Sumit; Roskilly, Anthony Paul; Smallbone, Andrew

Abstract

This research introduces a ‘Hydrogen Interconnector System’ (HIS) as a novel method for transporting electrical energy over long distances. The system takes electricity from stranded renewable energy assets, converts it to hydrogen in an electrolyser plant, transports hydrogen to the demand centre via pipeline, where it is reconverted to electricity in either a gas turbine or fuel cell plant. This paper evaluates the competitiveness of the technology with High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems, calculating the following techno-economic indicators; Levelised Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) and Levelised Cost Of Storage (LCOS). The results suggest that the LCOE of the HIS is competitive with HVDC for construction in 2050 with distance beyond 350 km in case of all scenarios for a 1 GW system. The LCOS is lower than an HVDC system using large scale hydrogen storage in 6 out of 12 scenarios analysed, including for construction from 2025. The HIS was also applied to three case studies, with the results showing that the system outperforms HVDC from LCOS perspectives in all cases, and has 15%–20% lower investment costs in 2 studies analysed.

Citation

Patel, M., Roy, S., Roskilly, A. P., & Smallbone, A. (2022). The techno-economics potential of hydrogen interconnectors for electrical energy transmission and storage. Journal of Cleaner Production, 335, Article 130045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130045

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 8, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2022
• Publication Date: Feb 10, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 27, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Cleaner Production
• Print ISSN: 0959-6526
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 335
• Article Number: 130045
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130045