The potential use of hydrogen produced from surplus electricity of renewable sources in the german transport sector

The increasing share of electricity generated by fluctuating renewable energies may cause oversupply situations in electricity generation, which are likely to occur in the future. A way to avoid surplus electricity is to limit the output of wind turbines or solar parks. Another option that allows the surplus electricity to be used is reconversion into hydrogen, which could be stored underground in large amounts for several weeks. At the same time a future demand for hydrogen from fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) can be expected. These vehicles need hydrogen produced from renewables for a positive emission balance. The potential coverage of hydrogen supply from surplus electricity for hydrogen fuel demand from FCEVs is analyzed in this paper. We find that supply is sufficient to meet demand on an annual reso lution. Our monthly analysis shows that storage is necessary to store hydrogen for one or two months