Carl Jönsson Lindholm presents his master’s thesis

Student: Carl Jönsson Lindholm
Main Supervisor: Maria Grahn
Examiner: Selma Brynolf
Opponent: Johannes Hedlund, Joel Amrén

Abstract of thesis

Given that the share of renewable energy sources will increase in future energy systems, coupling e-fuel production plants with intermittent electricity will be critical. This study evaluates the techno-economical feasibility of hydrogen, ammonia and methanol production using electricity produced from a connected wind farm. A model was developed to also include grid interactions and the possibility to utilize batteries and fuel cells. Different cases and scenarios were assumed, and technical behaviours along with the profitability of investments were evaluated. Operational flexibility was initially assumed to play a central part in both the technical and economic performance of the system and was closer investigated for the different system configurations. Furthermore, an understanding of the power-to-x concept and its associated investment strategies was developed.

Maximized profits could be found for the different scenarios, and results point toward ammonia being the most profitable option. It was also found that peak-shifting using batteries was more cost-effective compared to fuel cells and electrolyzers when considering the total amount of electricity supplied to the grid. Regardless, batteries were seen to decrease profits when utilized to support hydrogen production. Electricity prices and grid transfer capacities were seen to have a significant impact on the system which led to them being key parameters utilized to nuance the results.

The results of this study are however limited to some extent. Technical dynamics such as ramping times and hot standby of for example the ammonia and methanol production, were restrained by an hourly resolution together with limitations of the utilized software. Furthermore, only a few of all the possible combinations of case, scenario, transfer capacity and electricity price were evaluated as a result of the short time frame. This was also the case for heat integration of the system. Thus, further combinations and evaluations are left for future studies.