The report examines the impact of various instruments on the economic efficiency and system utility of electrolyzer ramp-up. On the supply side, the report examines the definition of green hydrogen according to RFNBO criteria, as well as existing and potential measures in electricity market design, regulated cost components, and government subsidies. The study assesses the impact on hydrogen production costs on the one hand and the effect on system utility with a focus on the electricity grid on the other. On the demand side, the study examines the impact of instruments that make fossil technologies more expensive, as well as instruments that make green hydrogen cheaper. The focus of this analysis is on the potential impact of closing the cost gap remaining after the supply-side instruments have been applied.
The analysis shows that existing instruments provide insufficient incentives for system-friendly location and operation. In particular, special instruments such as tenders under § 96 WindSeeG and § 13k EnWG (“use instead of curtail”) could significantly increase economic efficiency and system utility. On the other hand, general instruments such as a bidding zone split, grid fee design, and subsidy regimes could also be used for this purpose, as long as they take into account system-friendly effects through regional and, if necessary, dynamic differentiation. Complex interdependencies between the instruments and the dynamics of the market ramp-up make it difficult to define a consistent overall concept, which in turn increases investment uncertainties for electrolysers.
The report is published in German exclusively.
