On the production of hydrogen via alkaline electrolysis during off-peak periods

This article studies the opportunity for producing hydrogen via alkaline electrolysis from electricity consumption during off-peak periods. Two aspects will be discussed: electricity spot markets and nuclear electricity production in France. From a market point of view, when there is a significant fluctuation in electricity prices, the use of an electrolysis installation during offpeak periods makes it possible to make quite considerable savings in production costs. Savings vary enormously from one market to the next; some highly fluctuating markets offer very low off-peak prices and allow for viable hydrogen production, even if average electricity prices first appear to be quite high. Very fluctuating spot prices market may be difficult to predict and makes operations of an electrolysis installation more complicated and risky. For other more stable markets, the use of an electrolysis installation during off-peak periods does not appear to be a relevant proposition. From the point of view of French electricity production, the availability of current nuclear power plants and the estimation of available energy for mass production of hydrogen show that the installations studied would not be viable. For "peak period" use, it would certainly be more useful to have electrolysers with a lower investment proportion, even if this means slightly higher operating costs. Research into large-capacity electrolysers should, therefore, both develop low-production-cost electrolysers, for use in base load mode where dedicated production means are concerned, and highly flexible electrolysers, with low investment costs, which could easily be viable with low rates of use. (c) 2007 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.