A levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) comparison of coal-to-hydrogen with CCS and water electrolysis powered by renewable energy in China

Hydrogen has increasingly been an attractive energy in the context of carbon neutrality. The traditional coal-to-hydrogen process (C2H) is cost-effective, while has high CO2 emissions. In contrast, low-carbon hydrogen production technologies such as coal-to-hydrogen coupled CCS (C2HCCS) and renewable energy electrolysis of water for hydrogen production may be climate friendly, but of the economic feasibility needs to be evaluated. This study analyzed the production cost, cost structure and regional differences of C2H, C2HCCS, alkaline electrolysis (ALK), and proton exchange membrane electrolysis (PEM) in China via the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) model. The main findings include: (1) The LCOH of the C2HCCS is 13.1–19.4RMB/kg, which is 57.6–128.3% higher than the coal-to-hydrogen process (7.2–10.1RMB/kg), and 20.5–61.0% lower than that of the hydrogen production via the water electrolysis powered by renewable energy (16.4–51.8RMB/kg). (2) The C2HCCS can be considered as a cost-effectiveness option in northwestern regions of China, especially in the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Gansu, for the future blue hydrogen energy industry. (3) Currently, hydrogen production via renewable energy-based water electrolysis has no cost advantage in most regions, but wind power-based electrolysis in Gansu and photovoltaic power-based electrolysis in Chongqing have the potential to compete with the C2HCCS process.