In their study, which was published in Nature Communications, the two authors examine the economics of reversible power-to-gas-systems in the context of the German market and Texan electricity markets. A key advantage of such systems is that they can operate in two directions: In times of sufficient and affordable supply of wind and solar energy, they can convert electricity into hydrogen. In times of electricity shortages, however, the systems can reverse this procedure and convert hydrogen back into electricity.
“Green hydrogen is often still believed to be expensive and thus unprofitable. But reversible power-to-gas systems have the potential to play a key role in securing clean energy supply in Germany,” says co-author Glenk.
As of now, hydrogen used for power generation would come at a high cost, because the corresponding generation facilities can only run in one way. Gas turbines that generate electricity from hydrogen, for example, would achieve a relatively low utilization rate. They would only connect to the grid when wind and solar energy sources produce too little electricity, for example on windless, gray winter days. The rest of the time, they would remain idle.