The economic feasibility of hydrogen production technology from offshore wind power in China

doi:10.12006/j.issn.1673-1719.2025.039

Abstract

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the economic evaluation of offshore wind-powered hydrogen production technologies in China based on a levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) model. Four hydrogen production and transportation schemes are investigated: onshore hydrogen production via Alternating Current (AC) transmission, onshore hydrogen production via Direct Current (DC) transmission, offshore platform-based hydrogen production with pipeline transport, and offshore platform-based hydrogen production with ship transport. Considering the impact of electrolyzer types and offshore distances on the economic performance of these technologies, a total of eight technological schemes and three offshore distance scenarios (20 km, 60 km, and 100 km) are examined. Additionally, an analysis is conducted on the sensitivity of the wind power price and electrolyzer cost on the economic performance of hydrogen production technologies. The findings indicate that: (1) Offshore platform-based hydrogen production is more economical than onshore hydrogen production. When the offshore distance exceeds 20 km, platform-based hydrogen production combined with ship transport offers greater cost advantages. (2) For onshore hydrogen production, DC transmission is more competitive than AC transmission due to the lower cost and reduced losses of DC cables. (3) Alkaline electrolyzer (ALK) technology has a significant cost advantage over Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology, with baseline scenario LCOH ranging from CNY 38.94 to 44.33 kg for ALK and CNY 53.68 to 60.39 kg for PEM. (4) Both electricity price and electrolyzer capital cost have a linear impact on LCOH, hydrogen production costs are directly proportional to electricity price and electrolyzer investment cost. (5) If the abandoned electricity from offshore wind power is adopted (with a cost of 0), the cost of hydrogen production based on the shore will be significantly reduced, greatly enhancing the economic efficiency of hydrogen. At the same time, it will help improve the current situation of insufficient capacity to accommodate offshore wind power.

Key words: Offshore wind power, Hydrogen from electrolytic water, Levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) production, Economics

XU Yan, PEI Jia-Mei, ZHANG Xin-Yu. The economic feasibility of hydrogen production technology from offshore wind power in China[J]. Climate Change Research, 2025, 21(5): 698-708.

Figures/Tables 12

Table 1 Comparison of hydrogen production technology routes from offshore wind power[25-29]

Fig. 1 Topology of offshore wind hydrogen production technology schemes

Table 2 Basic parameters of initial investment costs

Table 3 Cost parameters of raw materials

Table 4 Operation and maintenance cost parameters during hydrogen production

Table 5 Public parameters for hydrogen production projects[39]

Table 6 Wind power cost in hydrogen production raw materials

Fig. 2 Composition of levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for offshore wind power in different hydrogen production technical schemes

Table 7 Levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) of offshore wind power hydrogen production

Fig. 3 Cost components of different hydrogen production technology options

Fig. 4 Variation of LCOH with offshore wind power tariff for different scenarios

Fig. 5 Variation of LCOH with investment cost of electrolyzer equipment for different scenarios

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