Low cost is the development trend of water electrolysis hydrogen production industry
As a green energy, hydrogen energy has always been a focus of the green energy industry because it can store energy for a long period and on a large scale. Hydrogen energy storage is an energy storage method that converts unstable intermittent wind energy, solar energy and other energy into green hydrogen that is easy to store and can be used for a long time. When used, the green hydrogen is burned to release energy. Among them, hydrogen production by electrolysis of water has always been the main source of hydrogen energy production. Under the action of direct current, water molecules are dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen through an electrochemical process, which are precipitated at the anode and anode respectively, thereby obtaining hydrogen that can be used normally.
Currently, based on differences in reaction principles, there are three mainstream solutions for hydrogen production from water electrolysis on the market: solid oxide water electrolysis (SOEC), proton exchange membrane pure water electrolysis (PEM), and alkaline water electrolysis (ALK). Among them, the commercial promotion of hydrogen production by alkaline water electrolysis (ALK) and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis has been fully launched, while solid oxide electrolysis is still in the laboratory development stage. Compared with pumped water energy storage, compressed air energy storage, and battery energy storage, hydrogen production by electrolysis of water has the advantages of no self-attenuation, low expansion cost, high energy density, and convenient energy generation transfer. It is especially suitable for energy storage across weeks and quarters. . From a cost perspective, energy storage capacity can be expanded by simply adding hydrogen bottles, so it is more suitable for large-scale promotion.
Although my country's water electrolysis hydrogen production technology has developed over the years, the entire commercial market is still immature, and many links need to be optimized and improved. On the one hand, immature technology hinders the rapid development of the industry. In terms of domestic PEM electrolysis equipment technology, there is a large gap between it and the international advanced level, mainly reflected in core areas such as equipment cost, catalyst technology, and proton exchange membranes. On the other hand, high costs have become the core pain point of the industry. Among the mainstream hydrogen production technology routes, electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen has the highest cost. Although my country has certain advantages in the key equipment field of electrolyzers, high cost problems have always existed in terms of electricity prices and raw materials. Taking PEM hydrogen production as an example, electricity costs account for about 80% of production costs. Due to the current high industrial electricity prices in my country, the electricity cost of hydrogen production is as high as 3.34 yuan/Nm3. Industry experts assess and analyze that as the cost of hydrogen production from fossil fuel energy continues to decrease, the electrolysis water hydrogen production market will continue to expand. It is expected that by 2030, the global average cost of hydrogen production from water electrolysis by renewable energy will drop by half. By then, my country's water electrolysis hydrogen production capacity will reach 3.81 million tons, and the market size will reach 110.1 billion yuan!