Design of an eco-industrial park for hydrogen and Fischer–Tropsch fuel deployment under the European policy framework

Optimizing the hydrogen economy within industrial hubs represents a key aspect contributing to global decarbonization, yet current design approaches often overlook macroeconomic constraints, synergy opportunities and actor cooperation dynamics. This study addresses these gaps by proposing a multi-period, multi-resource integration framework for evaluating the feasibility of Fischer–Tropsch fuel production within an Eco-Industrial Park (EIP). A Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is developed to minimize the annualized net present value of the system, considering both cooperative and non-cooperative governance schemes. The model integrates macroeconomic parameters such as EU ETS market prices, carbon dioxide sequestration costs, and RFNBO regulations, factors rarely accounted for in hydrogen-related EIP design. Results show that electricity is the dominant feedstock cost driver, contributing five times more than carbon dioxide to synthetic fuel production costs. Under favorable conditions, synthetic fuels must be priced at least three times higher than conventional fuels to justify investment, while under unfavorable conditions, this threshold rises to nine times. Cooperative governance enables economic gains through synthetic fuel sales, heat valorization and hydrogen production scaling, whereas non-cooperative governance leads to higher synthetic fuel prices due to resource bidding dynamics. These bidding dynamics, especially regarding carbon dioxide, are deeply influenced by policies, hence, the study concludes that policy design, as well as actor coordination, are critical to the viability of hydrogen-based EIPs in Europe.