Colloquia

Summary

Green hydrogen is a clean energy alternative to fossil fuels; however, the financial feasibility for various applications remains uncertain, particularly under the current Dutch and EU policy frameworks. This thesis assesses the financial viability of using green hydrogen for residential heating and e-methanol production in the Netherlands, considering the current subsidy schemes and carbon pricing. The study's results indicate that, even with the current subsidy scheme included, the 23kW residential heating project is not financially viable. When scaled up and optimised for secondary value, the system remains insufficient to achieve a positive NPV unless an additional subsidy is added on top of the current one. In contrast, using green hydrogen as feedstock to e-methanol production is a more viable pathway, which significantly improves the NPV. With 100% of the produced green hydrogen allocated to e-methanol production, it achieves the best financial performance and reaches payback within a short period. Besides, although Spain has lower electricity costs, the Netherlands still considers as a more attractive location for e-methanol production due to the higher subsidy support for operational costs. The overall result indicates that the policy structure is a crucial parameter that significantly impacts the financial viability of a green hydrogen project, and that the application of e-methanol provides a higher return, making the business case financially feasible.