Impact and economic potential for integrated wind farm-electrolyser energy system

One of the 10 priorities of the European Commission is Energy Union and Climate, whose key policy areas include de-carbonising the economy, increasing efficiency and integrating energy markets. Increased de-carbonisation of the energy system by means of intermittent renewable sources, such as wind and solar, has been causing grid instability and grid capacity limitations. These limitations rapidly reduce the value of wind power beyond a certain market penetration, and hamper de-carbonisation. Generating hydrogen is one way to make use of excess power and to allow a larger penetration of intermittent renewable sources into energy markets. Haeolus is a EU project that proposes a new-generation electrolyser integrated within a state-of-the-art wind farm in a remote area with access to a weak power grid. The potential impact of the Haeolus concept on the European and international energy systems, especially in regard to the penetration of wind power into the energy mix will be analysed by means of an investment optimization model for the European electricity sector. Furthermore, Haeolus will analyse and optimize operation concerning varying weather and power-price forecasts, and quantify the economic opportunities and potential for wind farm operators, with particular focus on grid balancing services and on hydrogen market. The analyses are performed using the optimisation tool HyOpt, optimizing design and operation of the concept