Wind-coupled hydrogen integration for commercial greenhouse food and power production: A case study
Kayes Md Abu Reza, David S.‐K. Ting, Rupp Carriveau
Abstract
• Green hydrogen integration via wind power for commercial greenhouse. • Transitioning cogeneration from natural gas to hydrogen for electricity generation. • Nine scenarios analyzed for hydrogen production, transportation, blending and usage. • Evaluated levelized cost of hydrogen, IRR, payback, and discounted payback. • 10% hydrogen blend reduces levelized cost; 100% blend improves IRR and payback. This study investigates the feasibility of using green hydrogen technology produced via Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis powered by a 200 MW wind farm for a commercial Greenhouse in Ontario, Canada. Nine different scenarios are analyzed, exploring various approaches to hydrogen (H 2 ) production, transportation, and utilization for electricity generation. The aim is to transition from using natural gas to using varying combinations of H 2 and natural gas that include 10 %, 20 %, and 100 % of H 2 with 90 %, 80 %, and 0 % of natural gas, to generate 13.3 MW from Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engines. The techno-economic parameters considered for the study are the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), payback period (PBT), internal rate of return (IRR), and discounted payback period (DPB). The study found that a 10 % H 2 -Natural Gas blend using existing wired or transmission line (W-10H 2 ) with 5 days of storage capacity and 2,190 h of CHP operation per year had the lowest cost with a LCOH of USD 3.69/kg. However, 100 % of H 2 using existing wired or transmission line (W-100H 2 ) with the same storage and operation hours revealed better PBT, IRR, and DPB with values of 6.205 years, 15.16 % and 7.993 years respectively. It was found impractical to build a new pipeline or transport H 2 via tube trailer from wind farm site to greenhouse. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to understand what factors affect the LCOH value the most.