How to solve the economic problem of hydrogen production by electrolysis of water
At present, the development of hydrogen production by electrolysis of water has attracted much attention. Due to the characteristics of "cross-border coupling", it is recognized as a booster for the construction of a clean energy system. Traditional hydrogen production methods include natural gas and coal, but it is still difficult to get rid of the dependence on fossil energy. In the past two years, renewable energy electrolysis of water for hydrogen production technology has developed strongly. The electrolysis of water for hydrogen production is simple and pollution-free, and is considered to be a good hydrogen production route.
Since the cost of electricity accounts for about 80% of the total production cost of hydrogen production from water electrolysis, the key to the cost of hydrogen production from water electrolysis is energy consumption. There are two ways to reduce costs: one is to reduce the energy consumption in the electrolysis process, which can be achieved by developing PEM (proton exchange membrane electrolysis) and SOEC (solid oxide electrolysis) technologies; the other is to use low-cost electricity as a source of hydrogen production. Raw materials, the key lies in the development of photovoltaic and wind power. "At present, the installed capacity of new energy in my country is increasing year by year, far exceeding the carrying capacity of the power grid, and the contradiction between new energy consumption and consumption is prominent. Hydrogen provides favorable conditions."
According to data released by relevant departments, in 2018, my country's abandoned wind power and photovoltaic power generation amounted to 55.4 billion kWh. According to the calculation of 5 kWh of electricity per cubic meter of hydrogen, my country's waste wind power can produce 11.08 billion cubic meters of high-purity hydrogen. In terms of hydropower, in 2018, my country's annual waste water volume reached 69.1 billion kWh, with a large surplus of hydropower. "Using electrolyzed water to produce hydrogen can effectively alleviate the problem of waste water from hydropower. Using surplus hydropower to produce hydrogen, wastewater "turns waste into treasure", which not only produces hydrogen, but also improves the comprehensive economic benefits of hydropower projects." The remaining hydropower, photovoltaic, and wind power systems Hydrogen is technically feasible, but the main crux of its failure to form a large-scale development is the high cost of hydrogen production.
The cost of my country's coal-to-hydrogen technology route is between 0.8 and 1.2 yuan per standard. The cost of natural gas-to-hydrogen production is greatly affected by the price of raw materials, and the comprehensive cost is slightly higher than that of coal-to-hydrogen production. As for hydrogen production by electrolysis of water, according to the current consumption of about 5-5.5 kWh of electricity per cubic meter of hydrogen, hydrogen production can be achieved even with low-valley electricity production and fixed investment other than electricity bills. "As far as water electrolysis equipment is concerned, the cost is higher than other hydrogen production methods." In a hydrogen production system of the same scale, the cost of hydrogen production from water electrolysis is about 1.5 times that of natural gas hydrogen production and 3 times that of coal production. Renewable energy electrolysis of water has no price advantage compared to other hydrogen production methods. "The amount and volume of hydrogen production from water electrolysis for renewable energy has increased rapidly in recent years. Enthusiasm is heating up across industries, but scale and exploration are still in their infancy."