Power-to-gas and power-to-liquid systems in emerging hydrogen valleys: techno-economic assessment of alternative fuels

This study presents a techno-economic assessment of power-to-gas and power-to-liquid pathways within the Hydrogen Valley concept to support the decarbonization of local energy systems. Using the EnergyPLAN software, both business-as-usual and Hydrogen Valley scenarios were analyzed by varying renewable energy, electrolyzer capacity, and hydrogen storage. The levelized costs of green hydrogen, electrofuels, and synthetic natural gas were estimated for both scenarios. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the impact of cost parameters on the levelized costs of hydrogen and alternative fuel production. The findings indicate that the Hydrogen Valley scenario results in a 5.9% increase in total annual costs but achieves a 29.5% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the business-as-usual scenario. Additionally, utilizing excess energy for power-to-gas and power-to-liquid conversion in the Hydrogen Valley scenario lowers the levelized cost of electrofuels from 0.28 €·kWh−1 to 0.21 €·kWh−1. Similarly, the levelized cost of synthetic natural gas decreases from 0.33 €·kWh−1 to 0.25 €·kWh−1 when transitioning from the business-as-usual scenario to the Hydrogen Valley scenario. The results highlight that Hydrogen Valleys enable low-emission energy systems with cost-effective alternative fuels, underscoring the trade-offs between deep decarbonization and cost optimization in the transition to clean energy systems.