Green hydrogen uses renewable energy to power electrolysis and dissociate water into hydrogen and oxygen, making it an environmentally sustainable alternative to grey and black hydrogen, which both require fossil fuels (using natural gas and coal, respectively). However, for green hydrogen to become an economically viable and commercial option, its production cost must target at or below A2/kgH 2, a threshold that has not been achieved at either pilot or industrial scales. This techno‐economical study analyses a novel combination for green hydrogen generation: a solid‐oxide electrolyser powered by a supercritical geothermal power plant to examine the feasibility of the proposed combination and its potential to contribute to Australia’s future energy mix. With predicted cost reductions resulting from the development of ultra‐deep drilling technologies, modelling shows that the levelised cost of hydrogen production was A3. 44/kgH 2, supporting future development in using supercritical geothermal energy to power solid oxide electrolysers. With these anticipated technology developments in ultra‐deep drilling, this combination offers a potential way to reduce greenhouse gases and address future energy demands.
Tam et al. (Thu,) studied this question.