Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see this being viable even if you reach your target efficiency.
The problem with hydrogen is the storage cost. Improving wire to to wire efficiency can help only so much. Have you calculated the electricity cost with those efficiency rates when you include the cost of storage? "Overall cost of renewable hydrogen in 2030 varies from €2.80–15.65/kgH2." improves with scale. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036031992...
Quick and dirty math, may contain errors:
Lightcell target is 0.5 kWh/L. Hydrogen weighs 0.09kg/L.
-> storage cost alone: ~ €0.5/kWh in large scale, €2.5/kWh in small scale.
Average electricity cost in the EU has been €0.289 per kWh.
> Average electricity cost in the EU has been €0.289 per kWh.
I'm curious where you're getting this from, and also what other Europeans on HN currently pay?
I'm in Spain with Octopus (via Spock's collective bargaining), and my effective price for December ended up being 0.131 EUR/kWh, while you claim a price that is 3x what I currently pay. Just wondering if I'm an outlier with the price Spock managed to get us.
Edit:
> The EU average price in the first half of 2024 — a weighted average using the most recent (2022) consumption data for electricity by household consumers — was €0.2889 per KWh.
Guessing that's your source :) Seems that's specific for home usage though, while your comment seems to be in a different context. Not sure electricity is cheaper/more expensive in industrial contexts.
I’m with Octopus in the UK (so not EU any more), on the Agile plan so it changes depending on wholesale prices. My average last month was £0.2061/kWh. Fixed tariffs are closer to £0.25/kWh.
That's the levelized cost over the lifetime. Hydrogen storage is expensive to both build and maintain.
The issues include hydrogen embrittlement, constant leakage and safety issues. Containers don't last. H2 is the smallest molecule. It gets into the containers and wears them out and leaks away. Casing and seal damage is constant. Pressure vessel storage loses little below 1% leakage per day.Liquid hydrogen storage is about 1-3% leakage per day. Salt cavern storage much less but they have problem of H2S generation
by Micro-organisms.
I don't see how you can compute that cost if you don't know anything about the amount of energy that goes into and out of the container, and how often that happens.
The problem with hydrogen is the storage cost. Improving wire to to wire efficiency can help only so much. Have you calculated the electricity cost with those efficiency rates when you include the cost of storage? "Overall cost of renewable hydrogen in 2030 varies from €2.80–15.65/kgH2." improves with scale. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036031992...
Quick and dirty math, may contain errors:
Lightcell target is 0.5 kWh/L. Hydrogen weighs 0.09kg/L.
-> storage cost alone: ~ €0.5/kWh in large scale, €2.5/kWh in small scale.
Average electricity cost in the EU has been €0.289 per kWh.