Data-driven techno-economic evaluation of energy-flexible hydrogen technologies

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🔬研究者:Offers validated methodologies for optimizing hydrogen production costs and system design under variable renewable energy.

🏢実務担当者:Provides decision support for investment in hydrogen plants, including PPA structures and microgrid configurations.

🏛政策担当者:Evaluates alternative regulatory pathways for renewable hydrogen certification and market integration.

The accelerating momentum and magnitude of negative environmental disruptions emphasize the necessity to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the adverse consequences of climate change. Renewable hydrogen is considered a pivotal component for holistic greenhouse gas emission mitigation. Despite manifold strategies, such as REPowerEU and the German National Hydrogen Strategy, establishing a sustainable hydrogen economy poses considerable techno-economic challenges for involved energy policymakers, investors, and operators who must reach informed decisions in highly complex and multifaceted contexts. Given the need for energy-flexible operation to sufficiently utilize fluctuating renewable electricity, increasingly complex and hybrid technology stacks, and regulatory uncertainties, significant techno-economic hurdles for hydrogen production are not adequately addressed. Embedded in the Business and Information Systems Engineering discipline, this thesis focuses on techno-economic evaluation methodologies, as well as an energy policy perspective, to leverage information systems in the exploration of alternative regulatory frameworks that facilitate a sustainable hydrogen economy. The dissertation comprises five research papers that collectively develop methodological instruments and data-driven assessments to support decision-making among energy policymakers, investors in energy-flexible hydrogen technology, and system operators. First, it assesses the economic and ecological value of energy-flexible operation under volatile electricity prices. Second, it presents a techno-economic methodological framework for synergetic electricity procurement utilizing power purchase agreements with battery energy storage systems to reduce the levelized cost of hydrogen. Further, it introduces an optimization approach for the design and operation of multi-energy microgrids that simultaneously provide fast charging and on-site hydrogen production and refueling services for mobility applications. Finally, it explores alternative regulatory pathways for the Renewable Energy Directive by examining configurations for geographical correlation between renewable electricity generation and electrolysis, as well as wholesale market-integrated electricity procurement strategies. The major objective of this thesis is to advance both theoretical and practical knowledge towards energy-flexible operated hydrogen technologies embedded in not yet fully defossilized energy systems. Thus, this thesis provides a conceptual framework to conduct techno-economic evaluations of design and operational strategies for energy-flexible hydrogen infrastructures, supporting real-world decision-making for investments and deployment under evolving regulatory frameworks. By addressing these challenges, this research contributes to a sustainable hydrogen economy ramp-up and to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, thereby aligning with international, European, and German policies.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.15495/epub_ubt_00009368first seen 2026-07-28 05:00:30