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• Renewable hydrogen can compete with lithium-ion batteries for seasonal storage. • Hydrogen's competitiveness depends on heat rate of plant it is replacing. • Net present value of hydrogen-fired gas turbine varies based on operation of plant. • Lack of infrastructure will impede demand growth for hydrogen in the United States. Non-emitting variable renewable energy (VRE) resources are needed on the power grid if the United States is to "deeply decarbonize" the power sector. The intermittent nature of these resources makes them difficult to integrate into the power system. Existing energy storage technologies, such as lithium-ion (LI) batteries, could be used to aid the integration of these resources, but these technologies are sized to produce power for hours at a time before needing to be charged again. While these energy storage technologies could address daily imbalances between supply and demand for electric power, they cannot address the seasonal nature of power production of VREs. This paper details a methodology to estimate the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of meeting this seasonal imbalance with either a hydrogen-fired gas turbine (HFGT) or lithium-ion battery system (LI) as a measure of economic efficiency of the technologies. Applying our model, we find the average LCOE associated with meeting this seasonal imbalance is $2400/MWh using a HFGT fueled with green hydrogen and $3000/MWh using a LI. If we allow the model to operate the HFGT with blue hydrogen the average LCOE decreases to $1560/MWh. However, we find the power prices required to justify investment in an HFGT to replace a natural gas-fired gas turbine are considerably higher than those seen in the market today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]