Simulation and Cost Analysis of Announced Green Hydrogen Projects in the Uruguayan Electricity Market in the 2030 – 2050

Uruguay aims to become a producer and exporter of green hydrogen and derivatives. In this paper a simulation of the power system of Uruguay was carried for the 2030-2050 period considering already announced green hydrogen projects and their associated renewable energy generation capacity. Two potential commercial strategies for exchanging electricity in the market and two scenarios of renewable energy deployment were considered, and the impact on costs and capacity factor of electrolyzers was assessed. The lowest Levelized Cost of Hydrogen is achieved in Scenario 3, which considers a 30 USD/MWh threshold for purchasing in the Spot market and installing a ratio of 2.4:1 renewable to electrolyzer capacity. Considering technological developments, the LCOH for these projects could reach 3 USD/kg.