The European Energy Exchange (EEX) yesterday launched what it describes as the first "market-based" green hydrogen price index, called Hydrix, in an effort to improve price transparency — despite the lack of a traded renewable H 2 market.
"Green" hydrogen, made through renewable-energy-powered electrolysis, is being promoted globally; however, few green hydrogen plants are currently operating and real-world cost data is scarce.
Conventional hydrogen and blue hydrogen cost about $2 per kilogram (though the price varies depending on where it''s produced), while green hydrogen is around twice as much.
Until 2030, clean hydrogen uptake is projected to be driven by existing applications switching from grey to blue and green hydrogen, but between 2030 and 2040 the uptake of hydrogen in new applications without existing demand is expected to drive the increase in clean hydrogen demand.
The cost of electrolytic hydrogen from renewable energy spiked as high as $16.80/kg in late July, three times recent price norms, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Fuel price assumptions: natural gas – USD 1.4-6.3 per gigajoule (GJ) (2019) and USD 1.7-7.0/GJ (2050); coal – USD 1.6 3.8/GJ (2019) and USD 1.0 2.2/GJ (2050); electricity – USD 36 116 per megawatt-hour (MWh) (2019) and USD 20 60/MWh (2050).
The company''s green hydrogen price is calculated from factors including the current spot price of electricity, the efficiency of an electrolyser, and the production profile of different renewable technologies, such as solar, onshore wind and offshore wind.
Without a price on carbon emissions, grey hydrogen is inexpensive (€1 to €2 per kilogram), but it compounds the challenge of improving environmental sustainability. Green hydrogen, in contrast, uses renewable electricity to power electrolysis that splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
With the basket of new tax credits for hydrogen and renewables within the US Inflation Reduction Act, analysts are projecting that subsidies could reduce the cost of green hydrogen to under $0/kg by 2030, which would rapidly accelerate the adoption of green hydrogen in the steel, transportation and power generation industries.
The production cost of hydrogen from natural gas is influenced by a range of technical and economic factors, with gas prices and capital expenditures being the two most important. Fuel costs are the largest cost component, accounting for between 45% and 75% of production costs.