Co-locating oxy–fuel combustion of waste with electrolyzers as a means to hydrogen market penetration and intermittent-renewable-energy integration

Matthias Re; Eero Hirvijoki; Timo Laukkanen; Mika Järvinen

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.150359

Co-locating oxy–fuel combustion of waste with electrolyzers as a means to hydrogen market penetration and intermittent-renewable-energy integration

Matthias Re^*, Eero Hirvijoki, Timo Laukkanen, Mika Järvinen

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

This study investigates the potential benefits of integrating an oxy-combustion 229 MW _th combined heat and power plant with a wind power plant, a cryogenic air separation unit, an alkaline electrolyzer, H ₂ storage system, O ₂ storage system, as well as an expansion of the electricity grid connection. A linear optimization model, maximizing the profit, provides the optimal system configuration and hourly operation strategy per the assumed H ₂ selling price. The results indicate four H ₂ price ranges characterized by different system configurations: (I) for H ₂ price below 2.45 EUR/kg, only the cryogenic air separation unit is installed and no H ₂ is produced, (II) for H ₂ price between 2.45–2.95 EUR/kg, a cryogenic air separation unit and an electrolyzer are installed delivering 764 kg/h of H ₂, (III) for H ₂ price between 3.0–3.3 EUR/kg there is no need for an air separation unit and the electrolyzer delivers 7435 kg/h of H ₂ while requiring a H ₂ storage (0.9 t) and a wind power plant (559 MW), and (”cap”) for H ₂ prices above 3.35 EUR/kg, no air separation unit is installed but the other components are installed to their maximum allowed capacities (upper boundaries). The investment cost of the H ₂ storage limits its installed capacity, which in Configuration III increases from 0.9 t to 94 t when CAPEX of the H ₂ storage decreases from 500 EUR/kg to 50 EUR/kg. This increased implementation allows the system to buy and sell electricity while following the electricity prices and the intermittent wind power production but without a significant increment of the profit (2%–3%). Scaling Configuration III to the existing waste-to-energy power plants across Finland could potentially cover up to 27% of Finland's green H ₂ target for 2030. The results show that Configurations II and III benefit from the presented co-locating system providing H ₂ with a selling price that could open a profitable window to green H ₂ market penetration and intermittent renewable energy integration.

Original language	English
Article number	150359
Number of pages	13
Journal	International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume	158
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.150359
Publication status	Published - 14 Aug 2025
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

Electrolysis
Hydrogen
Linear programming optimization
Oxy–fuel combustion
Renewable energy grid integration

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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1-s2.0-S0360319925033579-mainFinal published version, 2.84 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Co-locating oxy–fuel combustion of waste with electrolyzers as a means to hydrogen market penetration and intermittent-renewable-energy integration",

abstract = "This study investigates the potential benefits of integrating an oxy-combustion 229 MW th combined heat and power plant with a wind power plant, a cryogenic air separation unit, an alkaline electrolyzer, H 2 storage system, O 2 storage system, as well as an expansion of the electricity grid connection. A linear optimization model, maximizing the profit, provides the optimal system configuration and hourly operation strategy per the assumed H 2 selling price. The results indicate four H 2 price ranges characterized by different system configurations: (I) for H 2 price below 2.45 EUR/kg, only the cryogenic air separation unit is installed and no H 2 is produced, (II) for H 2 price between 2.45–2.95 EUR/kg, a cryogenic air separation unit and an electrolyzer are installed delivering 764 kg/h of H 2, (III) for H 2 price between 3.0–3.3 EUR/kg there is no need for an air separation unit and the electrolyzer delivers 7435 kg/h of H 2 while requiring a H 2 storage (0.9 t) and a wind power plant (559 MW), and (”cap”) for H 2 prices above 3.35 EUR/kg, no air separation unit is installed but the other components are installed to their maximum allowed capacities (upper boundaries). The investment cost of the H 2 storage limits its installed capacity, which in Configuration III increases from 0.9 t to 94 t when CAPEX of the H 2 storage decreases from 500 EUR/kg to 50 EUR/kg. This increased implementation allows the system to buy and sell electricity while following the electricity prices and the intermittent wind power production but without a significant increment of the profit (2\%–3\%). Scaling Configuration III to the existing waste-to-energy power plants across Finland could potentially cover up to 27\% of Finland's green H 2 target for 2030. The results show that Configurations II and III benefit from the presented co-locating system providing H 2 with a selling price that could open a profitable window to green H 2 market penetration and intermittent renewable energy integration.",

keywords = "Electrolysis, Hydrogen, Linear programming optimization, Oxy–fuel combustion, Renewable energy grid integration",

author = "Matthias Re and Eero Hirvijoki and Timo Laukkanen and Mika J{\"a}rvinen",

year = "2025",

month = aug,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.150359",

language = "English",

volume = "158",

journal = "International Journal of Hydrogen Energy",

issn = "0360-3199",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Co-locating oxy–fuel combustion of waste with electrolyzers as a means to hydrogen market penetration and intermittent-renewable-energy integration

AU - Re, Matthias

AU - Hirvijoki, Eero

AU - Laukkanen, Timo

AU - Järvinen, Mika

PY - 2025/8/14

Y1 - 2025/8/14

N2 - This study investigates the potential benefits of integrating an oxy-combustion 229 MW th combined heat and power plant with a wind power plant, a cryogenic air separation unit, an alkaline electrolyzer, H 2 storage system, O 2 storage system, as well as an expansion of the electricity grid connection. A linear optimization model, maximizing the profit, provides the optimal system configuration and hourly operation strategy per the assumed H 2 selling price. The results indicate four H 2 price ranges characterized by different system configurations: (I) for H 2 price below 2.45 EUR/kg, only the cryogenic air separation unit is installed and no H 2 is produced, (II) for H 2 price between 2.45–2.95 EUR/kg, a cryogenic air separation unit and an electrolyzer are installed delivering 764 kg/h of H 2, (III) for H 2 price between 3.0–3.3 EUR/kg there is no need for an air separation unit and the electrolyzer delivers 7435 kg/h of H 2 while requiring a H 2 storage (0.9 t) and a wind power plant (559 MW), and (”cap”) for H 2 prices above 3.35 EUR/kg, no air separation unit is installed but the other components are installed to their maximum allowed capacities (upper boundaries). The investment cost of the H 2 storage limits its installed capacity, which in Configuration III increases from 0.9 t to 94 t when CAPEX of the H 2 storage decreases from 500 EUR/kg to 50 EUR/kg. This increased implementation allows the system to buy and sell electricity while following the electricity prices and the intermittent wind power production but without a significant increment of the profit (2%–3%). Scaling Configuration III to the existing waste-to-energy power plants across Finland could potentially cover up to 27% of Finland's green H 2 target for 2030. The results show that Configurations II and III benefit from the presented co-locating system providing H 2 with a selling price that could open a profitable window to green H 2 market penetration and intermittent renewable energy integration.

AB - This study investigates the potential benefits of integrating an oxy-combustion 229 MW th combined heat and power plant with a wind power plant, a cryogenic air separation unit, an alkaline electrolyzer, H 2 storage system, O 2 storage system, as well as an expansion of the electricity grid connection. A linear optimization model, maximizing the profit, provides the optimal system configuration and hourly operation strategy per the assumed H 2 selling price. The results indicate four H 2 price ranges characterized by different system configurations: (I) for H 2 price below 2.45 EUR/kg, only the cryogenic air separation unit is installed and no H 2 is produced, (II) for H 2 price between 2.45–2.95 EUR/kg, a cryogenic air separation unit and an electrolyzer are installed delivering 764 kg/h of H 2, (III) for H 2 price between 3.0–3.3 EUR/kg there is no need for an air separation unit and the electrolyzer delivers 7435 kg/h of H 2 while requiring a H 2 storage (0.9 t) and a wind power plant (559 MW), and (”cap”) for H 2 prices above 3.35 EUR/kg, no air separation unit is installed but the other components are installed to their maximum allowed capacities (upper boundaries). The investment cost of the H 2 storage limits its installed capacity, which in Configuration III increases from 0.9 t to 94 t when CAPEX of the H 2 storage decreases from 500 EUR/kg to 50 EUR/kg. This increased implementation allows the system to buy and sell electricity while following the electricity prices and the intermittent wind power production but without a significant increment of the profit (2%–3%). Scaling Configuration III to the existing waste-to-energy power plants across Finland could potentially cover up to 27% of Finland's green H 2 target for 2030. The results show that Configurations II and III benefit from the presented co-locating system providing H 2 with a selling price that could open a profitable window to green H 2 market penetration and intermittent renewable energy integration.

KW - Electrolysis

KW - Hydrogen

KW - Linear programming optimization

KW - Oxy–fuel combustion

KW - Renewable energy grid integration

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105011069226

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.150359

DO - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.150359

M3 - Article

SN - 0360-3199

VL - 158

JO - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

JF - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

M1 - 150359

ER -

Co-locating oxy–fuel combustion of waste with electrolyzers as a means to hydrogen market penetration and intermittent-renewable-energy integration

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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