Prisstyrd drift av storskalig elektrolys: En modellstudie av hur lagerstorlek och framförhållning påverkar elkostnadsbesparingen vid vätgasproduktion
(2026) MVKM01 20261Department of Energy Sciences
- Abstract
- This thesis investigates the economic and operational consequences of price-responsive operation of a large-scale alkaline electrolyzer producing hydrogen for fossil-free steel production. A time-resolved linear optimization model was implemented in Python, describing the interaction between a 740 MW electrolyzer (37 units of 20 MW), a hydrogen storage and a constant hydrogen demand. Three operating cases were compared: a reference case with constant operation, a main case with rolling optimization based on day-ahead prices, and a benchmark case with perfect foresight over the full year. The cases were evaluated for storage sizes from 0.5 to 5 days of demand, using historical hourly prices from price area SE1 in 2024.
The study showed... (More) - This thesis investigates the economic and operational consequences of price-responsive operation of a large-scale alkaline electrolyzer producing hydrogen for fossil-free steel production. A time-resolved linear optimization model was implemented in Python, describing the interaction between a 740 MW electrolyzer (37 units of 20 MW), a hydrogen storage and a constant hydrogen demand. Three operating cases were compared: a reference case with constant operation, a main case with rolling optimization based on day-ahead prices, and a benchmark case with perfect foresight over the full year. The cases were evaluated for storage sizes from 0.5 to 5 days of demand, using historical hourly prices from price area SE1 in 2024.
The study showed that price-responsive operation reduces annual electricity costs by approximately 117–121 MSEK in the main case. Increasing the storage size only gives marginal additional savings, whereas the benchmark case shows considerably higher savings and a clearer dependence on storage size. This indicates that foresight, rather than storage volume, is the main factor limiting the value of flexible operation under day-ahead conditions. A break-even analysis shows that the strategy remains economically viable as long as the resulting stack lifetime reduction stays below approximately 47 \%. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Steel production is one of the world's most carbon-intensive industries, responsible for 7–9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. One promising path to fossil-free steel is replacing coal with hydrogen in the production process, but producing hydrogen at the scale required demands enormous amounts of electricity.
This thesis examines how a large-scale hydrogen production facility can cut its electricity costs by operating flexibly. Ramping production up when electricity is cheap and scaling back when prices are high. Using a mathematical optimization model, the study simulates a 740 MW electrolyzer paired with a hydrogen storage tank, serving the constant hydrogen demand of a steel plant.
The results show that price-responsive... (More) - Steel production is one of the world's most carbon-intensive industries, responsible for 7–9% of global greenhouse gas emissions. One promising path to fossil-free steel is replacing coal with hydrogen in the production process, but producing hydrogen at the scale required demands enormous amounts of electricity.
This thesis examines how a large-scale hydrogen production facility can cut its electricity costs by operating flexibly. Ramping production up when electricity is cheap and scaling back when prices are high. Using a mathematical optimization model, the study simulates a 740 MW electrolyzer paired with a hydrogen storage tank, serving the constant hydrogen demand of a steel plant.
The results show that price-responsive operation can reduce annual electricity costs by around 117–121 million SEK compared to running at a constant rate. Surprisingly, larger storage tanks provided only marginal additional savings. The key bottleneck is not how much hydrogen you can store, but how far ahead you can predict electricity prices. The strategy also remains economically sound even if the flexible operation shortens equipment lifetime by up to 47%.
The findings suggest that smart, price-driven operation of electrolyzers is a viable and economically attractive strategy for the green steel industry, and that better price forecasting tools may be more valuable than investing in larger storage capacity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9230893
- author
- Bernhardtz, Jacob LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MVKM01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- report number
- ISRN LUTMDN/TMHP-26/5680-SE
- ISSN
- 0282-1990
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9230893
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-08 11:32:46
- date last changed
- 2026-06-25 11:25:58
@misc{9230893,
abstract = {{This thesis investigates the economic and operational consequences of price-responsive operation of a large-scale alkaline electrolyzer producing hydrogen for fossil-free steel production. A time-resolved linear optimization model was implemented in Python, describing the interaction between a 740 MW electrolyzer (37 units of 20 MW), a hydrogen storage and a constant hydrogen demand. Three operating cases were compared: a reference case with constant operation, a main case with rolling optimization based on day-ahead prices, and a benchmark case with perfect foresight over the full year. The cases were evaluated for storage sizes from 0.5 to 5 days of demand, using historical hourly prices from price area SE1 in 2024.
The study showed that price-responsive operation reduces annual electricity costs by approximately 117–121 MSEK in the main case. Increasing the storage size only gives marginal additional savings, whereas the benchmark case shows considerably higher savings and a clearer dependence on storage size. This indicates that foresight, rather than storage volume, is the main factor limiting the value of flexible operation under day-ahead conditions. A break-even analysis shows that the strategy remains economically viable as long as the resulting stack lifetime reduction stays below approximately 47 \%.}},
author = {{Bernhardtz, Jacob}},
issn = {{0282-1990}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Prisstyrd drift av storskalig elektrolys: En modellstudie av hur lagerstorlek och framförhållning påverkar elkostnadsbesparingen vid vätgasproduktion}},
year = {{2026}},
}