Assessing the levelized cost of hydrogen production in a renewable hydrogen community in South Italy

The need to address climate change requires a shift towards more sustainable energy systems with lower greenhouse gas emissions. The emergence of Distributed Energy Systems (DES) and Renewable Energy Communities (REC) are changing the way energy systems are planned, designed, and managed. REC can play an important role in the development of green hydrogen, which can be produced in a decentralized way and used as an energy vector for various applications, such as transport and energy storage. The aim of this research is to evaluate the cost of hydrogen in distributed energy systems. The province of Taranto was chosen as a case study to model various supply scenarios for a 100 kW electrolyzer for local hydrogen production to be used within a Renewable Hydrogen Community. The results show that the optimal supply mix consists of 150 kW of photovoltaic and 100 kW of onshore wind installations, resulting in an annual hydrogen production of 7,565 kgH2/yr, an excess of electrical energy produced of 27,686 kWh/yr, and a Levelized Cost of the produced Hydrogen (LCOH) of 3.82 €/kgH2. The study highlights the potential use of hydrogen in different sectors, contributing to the reduction of local CO2 emissions. Therefore, green hydrogen can contribute to creating a more flexible, decentralized, and sustainable energy system, promoting the transition to a low-carbon economy.