Investments in green hydrogen as a flexibility source for the European power system by 2050: Does it pay off?

The European Union aims to deploy a high share of renewable energy sources in Europe’s power system by 2050. Large-scale intermittent wind and solar power production requires flexibility to ensure an adequate supply–demand balance. Green hydrogen (GH) can increase power systems’ flexibility and decrease renewable energy production’s curtailment. However, investing in GH is costly and dependent on electricity prices, which are important for operational costs in electrolysis. Moreover, the use of GH for power system flexibility might not be economically viable if there is no hydrogen demand from the hydrogen market. If so, questions would arise as to, what would be the incentives to introduce GH as a source of flexibility in the power system, and how would electrolyzer costs, hydrogen demand, and other factors affect the economic viability of GH usage for power system flexibility. The paper implements a European power system model formulated as a stochastic program to address these questions. The authors use the model to compare various instances with hydrogen in the power system to a no-hydrogen instance. The results indicate that by 2050 deployment of approximately 140 GW of GH will pay off investments and make the technology economically viable. We find that the price of hydrogen is estimated to be around €30/MWh. • Green hydrogen (GH) increases the flexibility of the European power systems. • Scenarios with GH in the power system were compared to a no-hydrogen scenario. • By 2050, the deployment of 140 GW of GH might pay off investments. • The economic viability of GH for flexibility use depends on its participation in other hydrogen markets. • The break-even point for GH is estimated at €30/MWh, approximately.