Is Hydrogen Energy Storage Ready for Prime Time on the North American Grid? A Guide for Bankers and Their Engineers

摘要

A utility scale energy storage plant can be used on the North American (NA) grid for the storage of solar (PV) electricity and/or to provide ancillary services. To help bankers and their engineers determine whether hydrogen (H_2) energy storage is ready for prime time, this paper presents a H_2 storage plant (HSP) levelized cost of storage (LCOS)3 financial algorithm for a model HSP. The LCOS algorithm is based on engineering economics and financial accounting principles. The algorithm only uses S. I. energy units for both the HSP's kinetic (electricity) energy and its potential energy (H_2). It converts US$ values into € values. The paper discusses HSP technology focusing on the three phases of all HSP; charging the HSP by using a H_2 electrolyzer (HE) to produce H_2, storage of the PV electricity as H_2 in a "H_2 "Tank", and discharging the PV electricity from the HSP by using the stored H_2 as the fuel for a fuel cell (FC) to regenerate the PV electricity. The LCOS algorithm uses "project accounting" to compute a separate "LCOS" for each HSP phase. The LCOS algorithm is presented in the paper's Excel HSP LCOS Financial Algorithm Workbook. Based on the paper's LCOS algorithm and on the HSP specifications (specs, metrics) complied for a base case "data set" for the model HSP, H_2 energy storage is not yet ready for commercial development on the North American grid. Low round trip HSP efficiency (η) and a high HSP CapEx do not allow a HSP to operate commercially on the North American grid.