Bringing green hydrogen MW scale off grid installations closer to technical and financial maturity

The main objective of this topic is to demonstrate the complete value chain of off-grid hydrogen production, storage and end-use installations at MW scale.

In regions of high renewable resource where the electricity grid is either heavily utilised or non-existent, off-grid hydrogen production provides the only opportunity for harnessing renewable energy at scale. Off-grid electrolysers should be designed to be coupled directly to variable solar/wind power sources and survive periods of zero power generation and poor weather, without recourse to the electricity grid. In this way they can access renewable electricity at least cost, by avoiding the usual fees and tariffs that are imposed for grid connection by grid operators, electricity suppliers and regulators. The combination of high renewable resource and low-cost electricity suggests that hydrogen could be produced at low cost, provided that suitable off-grid electrolysers are developed.

The electrolyser function cannot rely on a stable energy source (AC grid); it has to perform across the whole range of operation with high flexibility and use advanced control systems to efficiently utilise the time-varying renewable electricity input. The electrolyser system needs to include some energy storage (eg. by incorporating batteries, hydrogen storage and fuel cells) to ensure that the electrolyser is always protected during dormant periods (especially freezing weather conditions) and is ready to operate as soon as the renewable generation begins. More development is needed to achieve better ratios of BoP/stack power at all ranges of operation, looking for improvement in the electricity consumption of components (intensity) during operation, in order to realise cost-effective and efficient off grid electrolyser solutions. Also, further development is needed to find optimised and cost-efficient system architectures for the coupling between RES and the system. Direct connection of the RES source to the stack (DC/DC) has been satisfactorily demonstrated for units at 50 kW scale in a strict off-grid environment (TRL 6), obtaining 97% of efficiency across the whole range of operation, which makes the scale up to MW scale feasible by adapting the design to cope with higher input voltages and currents. Modifications to be applied to renewables technologies in terms of DC/DC conversion are also conceivable, and suitable ways to include batteries and supercapacitors for safe stand-alone operation can be explored.

To optimise the efficiency, cost reduction, flexibility, and reliability (security of supply) of the whole value chain adding hydrogen storage (or hydrogen transport in comparison to electricity transport), it is essential to support the role of electrolysis in off-grid configuration. In this respect, optimisation of the control strategy and alignment with the storage system specifics (and other components of the value chain) to improve overall system efficiency and lifetime for the complete facility has to be taken into consideration. Projects should provide a preliminary analysis for relevant geographical regions, including country-specific challenges, a sustainability assessment for the environmental impact, social acceptance, as well as economic feasibility.

The participation of inter- and trans-disciplinary consortia combining expertise and capacity covering both renewables and hydrogen technologies from public authorities, industrial stakeholders, infrastructure providers, knowledge institutions, planners, entrepreneurs, societal actors and citizens is advised to address the challenges.

In addition, proposals should address the following aspects:

• As the aim of the topic is to cover the whole value chain and depending on the application the cost of certain components may be more relevant than others, the following ranges are to be considered. Size of electrolysis system: 3 to 5 MW. Minimum size of hydrogen storage: 4 tonnes;
• Proposals should be oriented to optimise the performance of the system, with particular attention paid to the effects on electrolyser’s efficiency and degradation rate on hydrogen production, as well as to power conversion, system control and other critical parameters. The KPI values as indicated above should be achieved at the end of the project, with the exception of the capital cost KPI. It is recognised that the cost of a MW scale off-grid electrolyser system may be significantly different to that of a grid-connected electrolyser of the same size;
• Proposals should secure downstream use, and it should include integration with enough storage to match discontinuous generation with hydrogen end uses. The end use of the hydrogen should be included and clarified in the proposal including a viable business case. All decisions relating to pressurised or atmospheric electrolyser operation, the use of compressors, and the amount and type of hydrogen storage should be justified;
• Proposals should also build upon knowledge and experience from relevant previously funded FCH JU projects[[https://www.clean-hydrogen.europa.eu/projects-repository_en]], like ELY4OFF and REMOTE;
• Proposals should consider periods for scheduled maintenances of the system and estimate the performance of the system on that period;
• Strict off-grid conditions are desirable, although connection to the grid for testing, control and safety reasons can be foreseen;
• The system (demonstrator) developed by the project should operate for at least one complete year. This includes the complete value chain covering off-grid hydrogen production, storage, and end use.

Costs of equipment besides the electrolyser can be considered eligible as long as proposals demonstrate that they are essential for implementation of the project, e.g. compression of hydrogen, storage and any essential end-use technology. Costs related to the development of renewable energy technologies specifically designed for off-grid hydrogen production, e.g. a hydrogen producing wind turbine, would also be considered eligible.

This topic is expected to contribute to EU competitiveness and industrial leadership by supporting a European value chain for hydrogen and fuel cell systems and components.

Proposals should provide a preliminary draft on ‘hydrogen safety planning and management’ at the project level, which will be further updated during project implementation.

It is expected that Guarantees of origin (GOs) will be used to prove the renewable character of the hydrogen that is produced. In this respect consortium may seek out the issuance and subsequent cancellation of GOs from the relevant Member State issuing body and if that is not yet available the consortium may proceed with the issuance and cancellation of non-governmental certificates (e.g CertifHy[[https://www.certifhy.eu/]]).

Activities developing test protocols and procedures for the performance and durability assessment of electrolysers and fuel cell components proposals should foresee a collaboration mechanism with JRC (see section 2.2.4.3 "Collaboration with JRC"), in order to support EU-wide harmonisation. Test activities should adopt the already published EU harmonised testing protocols to benchmark performance and quantify progress at programme level.

Activities are expected achieve TRL 7 by the end of the project.

The maximum Clean Hydrogen JU contribution that may be requested is EUR 9.00 million – proposals requesting Clean Hydrogen JU contributions above this amount will not be evaluated.

At least one partner in the consortium must be a member of either Hydrogen Europe or Hydrogen Europe Research.

The conditions related to this topic are provided in the chapter 2.2.3.2 of the Clean Hydrogen JU 2022 Annual Work Plan and in the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021–2022 which apply mutatis mutandis.