Techno‐Economic Analysis of a Solar‐Driven Hydrogen Production Plant Using Thermochemical Redox Cycles

This study provides an economic evaluation of a promising technology for hydrogen generation currently at medium TRL: two‐step solar thermochemical redox‐cycling using stationary volumetric reactors. Levelized hydrogen production costs of solar‐driven plants are determined for different design cases and locations in Germany, Spain, and Saudi Arabia, based on scaling an existing 250 kW prototype reactor. Therefore, an accurate physical simulation model of the reactor, heliostat field, and solar radiation model is combined with an economic model. Annual technical plant performance and economic aspects such as capital and operational investments are considered. Crucial parameters are varied to determine a realistic range of hydrogen production cost, accounting for different plant sizes, technology improvement, and price prognosis. Production costs of 10.55–16.17 € kg ⁻¹ are determined for a 1 GW plant in a basic scenario. Performing a Monte Carlo analysis considering the most sensitive parameters indicates a high probability of lower production costs in the future. In a realistic scenario, the median values of the hydrogen costs range from 6.17 to 9.28 € kg ⁻¹ when regarding the combined effects of uncertainty in reactor efficiency improvement, learning rate and further significant technical, and financial parameters.