Techno-economic assessment of a green liquid hydrogen supply chain for ship refueling

Maritime transportation is an essential component of international trade and global economic growth: according to the 2021 Review of Maritime Transport, transportation by sea is responsible for more than 80% of the global product flow. To facilitate decarbonization and reduce pollutant emissions in the maritime sector, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set very ambitious targets, and hydrogen is one of the most promising energy vectors capable of supporting the required low-carbon energy transition. Recently, therefore, more attention has been paid to finding technical solutions for the development of hydrogen-based alternative propulsion systems and, at the same time, a hydrogen distribution infrastructure suitable for shipping. In this scenario, this study aims to analyze, through design, modeling and optimization approaches, the energy and economic performance of an offshore wind power plant integrated with a liquid hydrogen production system to be used for refueling ships far from ports. This study focuses on the development of an optimization procedure dedicated to finding the best technical solution in terms of component sizes and management strategies that ensure the minimum Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). Results: have highlighted that the proposed innovative plant configuration for the offshore liquid hydrogen production is able to produce 317 tons per year of green hydrogen with a LCOH of 16.77 <euro>/kg by using 19 MW offshore wind farm and 5 MW PEM electrolyzer.