Charles Dunnill / Victoria Griffiths
Onshore wind power is considered one of the most important future energy sources, but its intermittent and variable nature present a number of challenges to increasing the supply and penetration of wind energy in our energy systems, including the loss of renewable energy through cur-tailment. Hydrogen, which has for many years been considered an inter-esting option is now seriously considered as a possible solution to some of these challenges presented by renewable energy intermittency, varia-bility as well as the decarbonization challenge of other sectors. Use of hydrogen in this way has recently seen a convergence of political and industry support. This study will aim to examine the feasibility of pro-ducing hydrogen from curtailed onshore wind energy using a wind farm in North Wales as a case study. The research begins with a literature re-view and an analysis of the technical, economic, and environmental fea-sibility of hydrogen production from onshore wind before presenting an original economic model, offering results on the specific economic fea-sibility of producing hydrogen from the curtailed generation of a wind farm in North Wales. The results suggest that supplying hydrogen into the transport sector is the most economically feasible solution. The re-sults also consider the economic feasibility of wholesale and gas grid supply. The results are analyzed within the geographical context of the case study site and the opportunities for supply and demand of hydro-gen which currently exist or planned future development. This research provides in depth analysis and tools to enable a better understanding of the relationship between onshore wind and hydrogen production in Wales, UK.
