Consistent Techno‐Economic and Environmental Assessment of Hydrogen Production via Electrolysis

ABSTRACT Current levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) and emission studies often assume fully flexible electrolyzers operating only in low‐price hours, ignoring baseload constraints. Here, a techno‐economic analysis (TEA) and life‐cycle assessment (LCA) based on Aspen simulations are conducted for five different power‐supply scenarios for electrolysis. Note that 10% year‐round baseload mirrors industrial degradation constraints. Results show that low full load hours (FLH) are the main cost driver for LCOH. A realistic German LCOH span 6–10€ kg −1 with OPEX dominating above 4000 FLH. Grid supportive electrolysis exceeds the carbon footprint of fossil steam methane reforming by a factor of 2 and exhibits LCOH comparable to electrolysis with electricity procured from a green Power‐Purchase Agreement (PPA).