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Market-based renewables: How flexible hydrogen electrolyzers stabilize wind and solar market values

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  • Ruhnau, Oliver

Abstract

Wind and solar energy are often expected to fall victim to their own success: the higher their share in electricity production, the more their revenue on electricity markets (their “market value”) declines. While in conventional power systems, the market value may converge to zero, this study demonstrates that “green” hydrogen production, through adding electricity demand in low-price hours, can effectively and permanently halt the decline. With an analytical derivation, a Monte Carlo simulation, and a numerical electricity market model, I find that – due to flexible hydrogen production – market values in 2050 likely converge above €19 ± 9 per MWh for solar energy and above €27 ± 8 per MWh for wind energy. This is in the range of the projected levelized costs of renewables and has profound implications. Market-based renewables may hence be within reach.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruhnau, Oliver, 2020. "Market-based renewables: How flexible hydrogen electrolyzers stabilize wind and solar market values," EconStor Preprints 227075, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:esprep:227075
    Note: Please cite as: Ruhnau, Oliver (2021): “How flexible electricity demand stabilizes wind and solar market values: The case of hydrogen electrolyzers”, Applied Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118194
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Frederik vom Scheidt & Jingyi Qu & Philipp Staudt & Dharik S. Mallapragada & Christof Weinhardt, 2021. "Integrating Hydrogen in Single-Price Electricity Systems: The Effects of Spatial Economic Signals," Papers 2105.00130, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2021.
    3. Böttger, Diana & Härtel, Philipp, 2022. "On wholesale electricity prices and market values in a carbon-neutral energy system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    4. vom Scheidt, Frederik & Qu, Jingyi & Staudt, Philipp & Mallapragada, Dharik S. & Weinhardt, Christof, 2022. "Integrating hydrogen in single-price electricity systems: The effects of spatial economic signals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Johannes Brauer & Manuel Villavicencio & Johannes Trüby, 2022. "Green hydrogen – How grey can it be?," RSCAS Working Papers 2022/44, European University Institute.
    6. Ruhnau, O. & Bucksteeg, M. & Ritter, D. & Schmitz, R. & Böttger, D. & Koch, M. & Pöstges, A. & Wiedmann, M. & Hirth, L., 2022. "Why electricity market models yield different results: Carbon pricing in a model-comparison experiment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    7. Diana Bottger & Philipp Hartel, 2021. "On Wholesale Electricity Prices and Market Values in a Carbon-Neutral Energy System," Papers 2105.01127, arXiv.org.
    8. Thomaßen, Georg & Redl, Christian & Bruckner, Thomas, 2022. "Will the energy-only market collapse? On market dynamics in low-carbon electricity systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renewable energy; Hydrogen electrolysis; Electricity market; Electricity economics; Integrated energy system; Flexible electricity demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources

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