3 ms·
> ... dispatchable demand. For example, if hydrogen is to be used in steelmaking or ammonia synthesis, that demand can also be added when renewables would other
by ephbit 5y ago
> ... dispatchable demand. For example, if hydrogen is to be used in steelmaking or ammonia synthesis, that demand can also be added when renewables would otherwise be curtailed, and the hydrogen stored for later use.
Isn't the problem that electrolyzers mostly have to run 24/7 because they would otherwise not be profitable?
Then all these processes that rely on hydrogen wouldn't actually belong to the dispatchable demand category.
Dispatchable demand could be found in heat pumps (in combination with buffer tanks) for heating homes. (As long as there's sufficient grid capacity)
- pfdietz 5y agoWhen the idea was to turn relatively expensive electricity into hydrogen to replace gasoline, then it made sense to make the electrolyzers as efficient as practical, even if that made them more expensive. But using curtailed intermittent power is different: here, the electricity is cheap, and capital cost of the electrolyzer becomes more important than efficiency. Under these different design tradeoffs, one might use a different technology (alkaline electrolyzers without platinium group catalysts, say, rather than PEM cells with expensive Nafion membranes and platinum.) I have seen claims that alkaline electrolyzers are available for < $200/kW in China.