Economic and Environmental Assessment of Hydrogen Production from Brazilian Energy Grid

Author(s)

Santana, Jose Carlos Curvelo ; Machado, Pedro Gerber ; Nascimento, Claudio Augusto Oller do ; Ribeiro, Celma de Oliveira

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ENERGIES; v. 16, n. 9, p. 21-pg., 2023-04-28.

Abstract

The Brazilian energy grid is considered as one of the cleanest in the world, because it is composed of more than 80% of renewable energy sources. This work aimed to apply the levelized costs (LCOH) and environmental cost accounting techniques to demonstrate the feasibility of producing hydrogen (H-2) by alkaline electrolysis powered by the Brazilian energy grid. A project of hydrogen production, with a lifetime of 20 years, had been evaluated by economical and sensitivity analysis. The production capacity (8.89 to 46.67 kg H-2/h), production volume (25 to 100%), hydrogen sale price (1 to 5 USD/kg H-2) and the MAR rate were varied. Results showed that at 2 USD/kg H-2, all H-2 production plant sizes are economically viable. On this condition, a payback of fewer than 4 years, an IRR greater than 31, a break-even point between 56 and 68% of the production volume and a ROI above 400% were found. The sensitivity analysis showed that the best economic condition was found at 35.56 kg H-2/h of the plant size, which generated a net present value of USD 10.4 million. The cost of hydrogen varied between 1.26 and 1.64 USD/kg and a LCOH of 37.76 to 48.71 USD/MWh. LCA analysis showed that the hydrogen production project mitigated from 26 to 131 thousand tons of CO2, under the conditions studied. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 20/15230-5 - Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Innovation - RCG2I
• Grantee: Julio Romano Meneghini
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research Centers in Engineering Program