Techno-economic perspectives on hydrogen production systems via using renewable energy resources: A comprehensive review

The current article presents a comprehensive review on renewable hydrogen production systems with emphasis on the economic perspectives. The major technical factors influencing economics of hydrogen production systems are revised such as efficiency, energy consumption, maturity level, and integration with renewable energy systems. Then, economic aspects are reviewed including standard cost models, installation, operation, storage, feedstock costs, and carbon credits and subsidies. The findings show that mature hydrogen systems come with less Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). Technologies that run at extreme operating conditions incur higher costs due to the requirement of expensive materials and additional safety measures. The cost of water and biomass feedstocks, carbon credit and subsidies are found to be critical factors affecting hydrogen deployment. The LCOH is significantly influenced by the used energy source. For instance, wind and geothermal are found contributing to lower LCOH. Moreover, the environmental assessment shows that low-cost hydrogen technologies have more environmental impact.