Assessment of hydrogen-based solutions associated to offshore wind farms: The case of the Iberian Peninsula.

Offshore wind energy has the potential to be associated with hydrogen production to overcome certain disadvantages, such as the high cost of electrical transmission systems. In this work, two hydrogen producing systems are modelled, one with the electrolyzer offshore, the other with the electrolyzer onshore, along with a conventional offshore wind farm. To do so, each component is individually modelled and combined to construct the systems. Furthermore, an hourly optimisation algorithm is used to control the operation of the systems and a neural network is implemented to forecast day ahead power production and electricity price, so that regulation costs could be modelled. This study extends the existing literature by modelling the regulation costs in the day ahead electricity market using neural networks to provide day ahead forecasts along with analysing the flexibility of using an electrolyzer coupled with an offshore wind farm. Furthermore, innovative floating offshore wind turbines were considered, enabling the assessment for offshore hydrogen production in deeper waters. Results show that, for the present case study, the onshore electrolyzer system is always more economically interesting than the offshore electrolyzer system, mainly due to its ability of purchasing electricity from the grid. The first has a levelized cost of hydrogen of 5.84 €/kg, 3.42 €/kg and 2.57 €/kg for 2020, 2030 and 2050, respectively, compared to 8.98 €/kg, 4.37 €/kg and 2.68 €/kg. • Coupling hydrogen production with offshore wind farms reduces costs from forecasting errors. • 2020 prices for floating offshore wind and electrolyzers result in LCOH of at least 6 €/kg. • Cost estimates for 2030 show LCOH of around 3–4 €/kg and around 2€/kg for 2050. • For the specific case study, onshore electrolyzer is always more economically attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]