Techno-economic analysis of solid oxide electrolysis using concentrated solar thermal energy with storage, photovoltaics and wind turbines for green hydrogen production

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) produce green hydrogen at high temperature, with reduced electrical demand but added thermal input. Concentrated solar thermal (CST) energy with thermal energy storage (TES) can provide dispatchable renewable heat for steam generation in SOEC systems. A techno-economic analysis and optimisation of a 100 MW SOEC plant with CST + TES heat and dedicated PV and wind generation is presented. Unlike prior CST-SOEC studies that considered PV or grid electricity only, this work quantifies how wind resource affects the CST + TES advantage. The hybrid CST + TES system was compared against a reference electric heating system, minimising the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH). The hybrid achieved LCOH of $5.88/kg H 2 against $6.13/kg for the reference, a difference of 4.1 ± 2.9 pp that is not economically decisive at the assessed site, where the wind capacity factor is 30.9%. The advantage grows as the wind capacity factor falls, favouring CST + TES integration in PV-dominated locations.