Feasibility of Using Stranded Wyoming Wind for Hydrogen Production

Abstract The state of Wyoming features some of the best wind resources in the country. However, much of this resource is currently undevelopable due to its distance from existing electrical interconnects. This results in the wind being deemed a stranded resource, or a resource that is not currently able to be utilized. The production of hydrogen through electrolysis could enable the transport of wind energy through means other than the electrical grid, such as rail, highway, or pipeline. The objective of this study is to investigate the financial feasibility of creating hydrogen from stranded Wyoming wind resources. This is completed by using the Wind Integrated National Dataset Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTKE-LED), a national weather model that covers the continuous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and offshore regions. The portion of this expansive dataset used in this study includes 20 years of modeled weather data that is output hourly on a 4-km grid to allow for preliminary analysis of wind resources. Wyoming hub height wind speeds from the WTKE-LED are used to map the wind resource of Wyoming. Using the 2023 Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) produced by NREL (Mirletz 2023), wind energy production costs are estimated. Using these energy production costs and corresponding Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for the wind energy, and the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Record titled Hydrogen Production Cost from PEM Electrolysis - 2019 (Peterson 2020), the cost of produced hydrogen via electrolysis is then estimated and visualized. This visualization is then overlayed with potential methods of energy transport such as the electric grid, highway, rail, and pipeline. Results show that Wyoming has many locations of good, but stranded wind resources. While these resources may not be close to existing electrical infrastructure, some are much nearer to existing rail, highways, or pipelines that could enable hydrogen transport. As wind and hydrogen production technologies mature, as forecasted in the ATB (Mirletz 2023) and the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Record (Peterson 2020), the resultant map shows several areas of the state that may be able to use stranded wind to produce hydrogen for under $2/kg by 2035. This is far under the $4.48/kg estimate found for that year in the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program Record. Much of this cost reduction is due to the inexpensive electricity coming from the wind plant due to high wind power capacity factors and lack of costs associated with connecting the wind plant to the grid.