[ electrolysis ]
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Fig . 1 . LCOH for different technologies at different electricity prices , based on data from Tables 1 and 2
electrolysis technologies discussed in this article , although it has large potential to contribute significantly to the overall picture . It is a membrane technology , like PEM , but operates in an alkaline medium , allowing for the use of inexpensive materials and resulting in a smaller footprint . The main characteristics of this technology , including its efficiency and electricity consumption , are presented in the last column of Table 1 . The table , however , does not show the CAPEX and OPEX values for AEM electrolysers , as there are currently very few companies in the market selling AEM electrolyser products , and the author of this article wishes to present only significant average values for all electrolysis technologies .
Regarding materials , the main advantage of AEM is the use of abundant and cost-effective materials in most of the components . Only excessive use of Ni as the main component could jeopardise the competitiveness of this technology . A current limitation of AEM
technology is the lack of cost-effective and long-lasting membranes suitable for use in an alkaline medium . However , rapid developments are being made in this area , which is expected to make AEM a viable solution in the medium term . This is reflected in the promising projections for AEM technology in terms of LCOH , as shown in Table 2 . 3
LCOH considerations and value chain
As mentioned at the beginning of this article , electrolysis technologies are an essential component in determining the final LCOH for a green hydrogen project . Figure 1 summarises the LCOHs achievable by using different electrolysis technologies , based on a set of reference electricity prices , both currently and projected for 2030 . Encouragingly , all four technologies discussed can reach the LCOH target of less than € 2 / kg by 2030 , which would make green hydrogen competitive with the lowest-cost grey hydrogen currently available in both Europe and the US . This is crucial to
Hydrogen Tech World | Issue 9 | April 2023 35