Cost Break Down and Cost Reduction

Strategies for PEM Water Electrolysis Systems

Session B05: H2 from Electrolysers: Concepts & costs

Tom Smolinka1, Nikolai Wiebe1,

Magnus Thomassen2

1Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare

Energiesysteme ISE
2SINTEF - Materials and Chemistry

6th EUROPEAN PEFC & Electrolyser

Forum – Lucern /CH, July 5, 2017
www.ise.fraunhofer.de

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Outline
 Introduction to Fraunhofer ISE
 KPI targets for water electrolysis
 Cost break down for PEMWE stacks
 Methodology
 Results on different sizes
 Cost structure of PEMWE systems
 Summary and conclusion

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Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
At a Glance

Photovoltaics

Solar Thermal Technology

Building Energy Technology

Fraunhofer ISE
Director: Prof. H-M. Henning
and A. Bett
Hydrogen
HydrogenTechnology
Technology
Staff: ca. 1.200
Budget 2016: 81 Mio. € Energy System Technology
Established: 1981

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Hydrogen Production by PEM Water Electrolysis
For more than 25 years experience!

 Material characterisation
 Electrochemical modelling
 Cell and stack design
 System and test rig construction
 Balance of plant
Micro CT
 Control strategies


© Bruker
Power electronics
 Integration with RES
 Monitoring and field tests
 Hydrogen refuelling station
 System evaluation (power to gas)
 Dynamical system modelling
 Cost analysis & business cases

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Coupling Renewable Energies and Hydrogen
PtX - New market opportunities for water electrolysers

Application Typical EL Required

size [Nm³/h] power (MW]
Industrial hydrogen 1 – 20 0.01 – 0.1
H2 for processing industry 50 – 1.000 0.25 – 5.0
HRS type S / M / L 60 – 360 0.30 – 1.8
Renewable energy storage 100 – 20.000 0.50 – 100.0

 Grid service: Operating reserve / balancing power for the electrical grid
 demand site management, load balancing
 Power to gas (PtG): Hydrogen production (and methanisation)
 as fuel for FCEV / for industrial applications / large-scale storage systems
 Power to liquid (PtG): Valorisation of hydrogen with carbon dioxide
 liquid fuels for transportation / other secondary feedstocks

 Cumulative deployment of electrolysers in GW scale is expected/demanded by 2030

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Coupling Renewable Energies and Hydrogen
PtX - New market opportunities for electrolysers

2017-06-13

 Already today strong competition on market shares

 AEL: 500 – 1,000 €/kW for two digit MW installation (atm.)
 PEMEL: 1,000 – 1500 €/kW for larger one digit MW systems (~ 30 bar)
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Coupling Renewable Energies and Hydrogen
Technology development and cost reduction are required!

 European view: Multi-

annual implementation
plan (MAWP) of FCH JU kWh/Nm³ 5.40 4.95 4.68 4.50

 Targets defined through

key performance 3,200 1,620 920 720
indicators (KPI) €/kW €/kW €/kW €/kW

 Analysis of cost structure

is essential to identify
main cost drivers and to
develop cost reduction
strategies

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Coupling Renewable Energies and Hydrogen
Technology development and cost reduction are required!

 European view: Multi-

annual implemen-tation
plan (MAWP) of FCH JU kWh/Nm³ 5.40 4.95 4.68 4.50

 Targets defined through

key performance 3,200 1,620 920 720
indicators (KPI) €/kW €/kW €/kW €/kW

 Analysis of cost structure

is essential to identify Dominated
by CAPEX
main cost drivers and to Annuity
Electricity cost
develop cost reduction
strategies Dominated by
electricity cost

 Hydrogen production cost

is not only dominated by
CAPEX
8 Assumptions
 Recovery period: 20 years / interest rate: 5 %
© Fraunhofer ISE
 Electricity cost: 50 €/MWh
FhG-SK: public  plus 10% planing & 4% maintenance (incl. overhauling)
Cost Break Down for PEM Water Electrolysis Stacks
Motivation and methodology

Motivation Performance forecast Cell / stack design

 Identification of cost drivers
 Sensitivity analysis
 Cost reduction strategies

Approach
1. 2.
1. Performance forecast according
to literature / own experience 5. Cost break down PEMWE stacks
2. Specification of cell / stack design 3. 4.
3. Material selection & quantifica-
tion for considered production
volume, e.g. 100 stacks
4. Price inquiries at suppliers & Picutres credits:Proton OnSite
derivation of cost functions Material selcetion Price inquiries and
5. Calculation of specific stack costs and quantification cost functions

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Cost Break Down for PEM Water Electrolysis Stacks
Cost functions for cell and stack components

 Mathematical description of the

price degression by the power law:
∙
Ccomp : Specific investment cost [€/X]
a : Volume / process factor
X : Reference value of component MEA
m : Coefficient of degressivity

 Several target price quotations for

different reference values X required
 Power law as cost function for:
 Membrane electrode assembly
 Porous transport layers
PTL
 Coatings of BPP / PTLs

10 BPP: Bipolar plate

© Fraunhofer ISE MEA: Membrane Electrode Assembly
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Cost Break Down for PEM Water Electrolysis Stacks
Cost share for different cell areas and stack sizes

 Cost break down for state of the art stack components (2015 / @ 30 bar / 50 °C)

600 cm² 1,200 cm² 2,400 cm²

Parameter 600 cm² 1,200 cm² 2,400 cm²

Number of cells [-] 150 100 150
Operating point [V / A/cm²] 1.9 / 1.5 1.9 / 1.5 1.9 / 1.5
Stack power [kW] 257 342 1026
Specific Costs [€/kW] 433 383 358
[€/Nm³/h] 1.994 1.763 1.319

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Cost Break Down for PEM Water Electrolysis Systems
Methodology – same as for stacks

Motivation System layout Dimensioning

(Matlab Simulink)
 Identification of cost drivers
 Sensitivity analysis for CAPEX
 Cost reduction strategies

Approach
1. 2.
1. System layout according to
application 5. Cost break down PEMWE system
2. Dimensioning of main 3. 4.
components by modelling
3. Price inquiries at suppliers &
derivation of cost functions
Picutre credits:
4. Surcharges for BoP, Ma Design And Construction
engineering, housing Price inquiries Surcharges for
5. Calculation of spec. systems costs and cost functions engineering, housing

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Cost Break Down for PEM Water Electrolysis Systems
Results for different PEMWE systems

 Cost break down for state of the art stack technology (2015)
 0.25 - 1 MW stacks working at differential pressure @ 30 bar / 60 °C
 Even with “numbering up”: CAPEX < 1 k€/kW are possible (economy of scale)
 With advanced stack technology & stack scale up: CAPEX << 1 k€/kW feasible
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Summary and Conclusion

 Technology development and cost reduction are required to enable cumulative

GW scale deployment of electrolysers in the next years
 Target values for economical and technical KPI are given by different institutions
 Hydrogen production costs are as important as investment costs
 Cost models for PEMWE stacks and systems were developed to
 compare different designs and configurations
 evaluate technical progress
 identify cost drivers
 Substantial cost reduction for PEM electrolysis stacks is possible by
 Economy of scale and scaling up of PEMWE cells
 Technical progress for cell components (current density)
 Investment costs down to ~ 500 €/kW for PEMWE systems are possible if
specifications of technology forecast can be met in the future

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Acknowlegdement

The research leading to these results has received funding from

 Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU)
 Project MEGASTACK - grant agreement n° 621233
 www.megastack.eu

 German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)

 Poject WESpe - contract n° 0325619B
 www.ise.fraunhofer.de/de/forschungsprojekte/wespe.html

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 Thanks a lot for your kind attention!
Fotos © Fraunhofer ISE

Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE

Dr. Tom Smolinka

www.ise.fraunhofer.de
www.pem-electrolysis.de
tom.smolinka@ise.fraunhofer.de

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