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The need to develop a forthcoming hydrogen economy emphasises the emerging concept of 'hydrogen valleys', where hydrogen production and consumption are being developed. This study assesses the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) and Carbon Abatement Cost (CAC) for various hydrogen end-use applications within the context of a hydrogen valley located in the southern Italy over different time horizons (Today 2023, Mid-Term 2030, Long-Term 2050). Examined applications include blending into the gas grid, reconversion into electricity for grid balancing by means of fuel cells, hydrogen refuelling stations for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), synthetic methane production, and electro-fuel synthesis. Employing a parametric approach, the study compares LCOH and decarbonisation costs across different pathways. Results indicate current LCOH production values of 3.66–4.90 €/kg H2 , projected to decrease to 1.41–1.94 €/kg H2 by 2050. Decarbonisation cost analysis identifies blending and FCEV scenarios as the most cost-effective, contrasting with Power-to-Power scenarios, particularly in the mid and long terms. [Display omitted] • Variable renewables energy mix is implemented for producing green hydrogen. • A demo hydrogen valley in southern Italy has been analysed and simulated. • The Levelised cost of Hydrogen have been assessed over the whole supply chain. • The carbon avoidance cost has been evaluated for each end use scenario. • A comparative analysis from today up 2050 has been performed to identify the most promising scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of distributed energy systems must take place paying attention to the self-consumption of renewable generation. Innovative sector coupling strategies can play that role linking local electricity and gas grids. The present work aims to evaluate the energy and economic feasibility of the Power-to-Methane strategy application in urban energy districts. A residential cluster was considered as a case study. Two PV configurations have been applied to evaluate the Substitute Natural Gas (SNG) production under different renewable excess conditions. Thereafter, the Power-to-Methane strategy was implemented by varying the system's size. Some significant configurations have been compared to each other in terms of energy and economics. Beyond a certain threshold limit, an increase in the photovoltaic size slightly enhances the effectively self-consumed energy. The Power-to-Methane strategy can exploit all the renewable excess once the system is properly sized, almost doubling the potential energy consumption reduction compared to the PV system alone. The SNG production cost is between 100 and 200 EUR/MWh in most configurations, which is competitive with the high natural gas prices on the European market. Therefore, decentralised SNG production can reduce the households' annual expenditures and it can mitigate the energy poverty conditions over the current energy crisis period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy communities (RECs) represent the new scheme for promoting the distributed renewable generation, which must be managed to maximise the local energy self-consumption. The aim of this paper is to assess and discuss strengths and weaknesses of small-scale sector coupling strategies in residential RECs by means of a comparative analysis of their applications. Different power-to-X strategies have been applied to twenty-seven REC configurations. The systems have been separately simulated by means of the EnergyPLAN software. Power-to-heat strategy turns out to be the most cost-effective solution to integrate the RES excess, however, its potential often is not enough to fully accommodate it. Power-to-vehicle has low infrastructure costs, but its limit depends on the electric vehicle penetration and citizens' participation. Exploiting the electric vehicle batteries is always more cost-effective than installing stationary batteries. The competitiveness of power-to-power is extremely linked to the REC electrification level. Power-to-gas is promising in high-RES excess conditions, but rarely represents the best solution due to current high electrolyser costs. The implementation of energy storage systems is crucial for improving the local self-consumption and the cross-sector integration is a better solution in energy, economic and environmental terms than focusing only on the electricity sector. • Comparative analysis of Power-to-X strategies in a renewable energy community. • Thermal storage, hydrogen, electric vehicle and electric battery implementation. • End-use electrification should be prioritised over additional renewable generation. • Power-to-Heat system is the most cost-effective strategy in several configurations. • Cross-sector integration is more effective than focusing on the electricity sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The share of electrical energy hailing from renewable sources in the European electricity mix is increasing. The match between renewable power supply and demand has become the greatest challenge to cope with. Gas infrastructure can accommodate large volumes of electricity converted into gas whenever this supply of renewable power is larger than the grid capacity or than the electricity demand. The Power-to-Gas (P2G) process chain could play a significant role in the future energy system. Renewable electric energy can be transformed into storable hydrogen via electrolysis and subsequent methanation. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the required technical adaptations of the most common devices for end users such as heating plants, CHP systems, home gas furnaces and cooking surfaces, wherever these are fuelled with methane and hydrogen blends in variable percentages by volume. Special attention will be given to issues related to essential safety standards, firstly comparing existing Italian and European regulations in this regard, and secondly highlighting the potential need for legislation to regulate the suitability of hydrogen methane blends. Finally, a list of foreseeable technical solutions will be provided and discussed thoroughly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Hydrogen Strategy set an electrolysers' capacity target of 40 GW by 2030. This will lead to a sudden expansion of the electrolyser industry across Europe and the unit cost of electrolyser production will steeply decrease. The purpose of the present work is to integrate the learning curve approach with the national energy and economic planning, taking the Italian Hydrogen Strategy as a case study. Different learning curves and different roadmaps for the electrolysers' installation have been combined in order to model scenarios for predicting progressive fall in the electrolysers' CAPEX. The investment needed to implement the strategy ranges between 1.5 and 3.3 G€ and depends mainly on the learning curve scenario. The Levelized Cost of Hydrogen has been calculated by changing different boundary conditions. Moreover, an incentive scheme has been proposed by comparing the green hydrogen cost to the blue and grey ones. Under the hypothesis of a fully-blended hydrogen use in the gas grid, a potential CO 2 reduction up to 8.4 Mton CO2 over the decade can be accomplished. The main barrier to the economic competitiveness of Power to Gas systems is the still too high price of renewable electricity. It will be optimistic to obtain hydrogen prices lower than 2.44 €/kgH2 in Italy by 2030. Nevertheless, the deployment of the Hydrogen Valleys, where both production and consumption coexist, can reduce the carbon avoidance cost. Finally, it has been demonstrated that the failure to achieve the European targets is associated with higher hydrogen production costs and higher decarbonisation costs. • Review of studies analysing learning curves for electrolysers. • Assessment of possible reduction in the electrolysers' CAPEX in Europe. • Proposal for an incentive scheme to support green hydrogen. • Current and future Levelized Cost of Hydrogen for green, blue and grey hydrogen. • Assessment of CO 2 emissions reductions and carbon avoidance costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to accomplish significant primary energy saving and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction, CHP (combined heat and power) technology can be adopted largely for industrial and civil sectors. Waiting for the cutting-edge appliances (i.e. Fuel Cell) wide deployment, ICEs (internal combustion engines) fuelled with an environmentally-friendly fuel, such as H 2 NG (hydrogen-natural gas mixtures) could represent the bridge technology towards the forthcoming pure hydrogen economy. This paper deals with the results of an experimental campaign carried out on a Single Cylinder ICE, fuelled with NG (natural gas) and H 2 NG @ 15% vol. In detail, energy performances were assessed at rated and partial loads. From data analysis, it emerged that the electrical efficiency increased up to 2.28%, at the expense of the heat recovery one, having added hydrogen. Additionally, due to the higher water content in exhaust gas when H 2 NG is burned, it was investigated on how heat recovery efficiency has been affected by condensing operating conditions. Finally, to estimate this benefit, an expeditious procedure was developed building three maps for H 2 NG blends condensing properties from 0% up to 30% vol. of H 2 . Their outputs provided the condensation efficiency value and the absolute gain of heat recovery one with varying exhaust gas temperatures and hydrogen fraction in the mixture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the Italian Hydrogen Roadmap goals, the 2030 national RES installation targets need to be redefined. This work aims to propose a more appropriate RES installation deployment on national scale, by matching the electrolysers capacity and the green hydrogen production goals. The adopted approach envisages the power-to-gas value chain priority for the green hydrogen production as a means of balancing system. Thus, the 2030 Italian energy system has been modelled and several RES installation scenarios have been simulated via EnergyPLAN software. The simulation outputs have been integrated with a breakdown model for the overgeneration RES share detection, in compliance with the PV dispatching priority of the Italian system. Therefore, the best installation solutions have been detected via multi-objective optimization model, based on the green hydrogen production, additional installation cost, critical energy excess along with the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). Higher wind technology installations provide more competitive energy and hydrogen costs. The most suitable scenarios show that the optimal LCOH and hydrogen production values, respectively equal to 3.6 €/kg and 223 kton H2 , arise from additional PV/wind installations of 35 GW on top of the national targets. • PtG strategy for the green hydrogen production as a means of balancing system. • 2030 Italian energy scenario modelling by means of EnergyPLAN software. • Breakdown model in RES share, in compliance with the PV dispatching priority. • Multi-objective optimization of RES installations. • Identification of the optimal scenario, defined as the closest to the Utopia point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]